Virtual Reality
by Iskolde
Summary: Luck and fate intertwine when Elsa meets Anna in an online game and a romance erupts, but will the girls be able to wade the test of distance, prejudice, and time?
1. Elsa

**A/N.  
Well okay here it is, my very first fanfiction up and running! It may start a little slow, and be a little confusing but be assured your questions will be answered as the story progresses.**  
**Also, this is completely unbeta'd, so if anyone would like to beta for me, just shout out!  
****I'll also be editing myself for syntax, grammar, typos and the like.**  
- Danika

**OH I almost forgot, the word Iskolde is pronounced Ees-ko-lay, and translates into "icy" or "ice cold" for those of you who were wondering!**

* * *

High pitched ringing ripped through her consciousness, melding in with the images in her mind while slowly forcing her to fade into half wakefulness. A limp hand came out from under the comfort of the blankets, grappling blindly for the source of the noise. After a moment of searching, irritation growing the longer the noise persisted, pale fingers fumbled with the old brass alarm clock unfortunately knocking it onto its face, effectively rendering the off switch out of reach. Slowly Elsa pushed herself up with a harsh sigh, blankets tumbling from shoulders as tired blue eyes looked over at the night stand. She felt as though she had only slept for an hour at most. Begrudgingly she leaned over to grab the offensive alarm, slamming the off switch with an irate growl. What time could it possibly be? The hands of the clock made no sense to her half-conscious brain, so instead she looked outside. Staring out into the shadows of the backyard, blearily confused in her tiredness, white gold hair in a disheveled mess and black band shirt crumpled around her chest exposing the very pale skin of her stomach, Elsa tried to orient herself to her reality.

"Elsa!" called a matronly woman's voice from the hallway, "up and at 'em!"  
Confusion was slowly replaced by realization as her grandmother's muffled voice made it through the door. It was morning, a school morning, thankfully the last before the weekend, and it was just after 5:30am. Smacking her lips together, feeling the dryness of her mouth, Elsa reluctantly pulled the blankets off her feet, planting a wobbly step on the pink carpet floor.

"Elsa!" her grandmother called again, closer this time, "up! Up!" voice commanding this time When Elsa didn't respond the door opened and the woman's head appeared around the frame, "oh, good. Time to get ready for school." Curly white hair piled on a weathered but still attractive old face retreated quickly once its owner had assured herself of her granddaughters compliance, and was gone before Elsa could place her second foot on the floor.

"Yahh mm...Imma gonna," Elsa grumbled.

The walk to the bathroom was slow and Elsa placed a hand on the wall to steady herself_. _Over the course of the last year Elsa had gotten more accustomed to the early hours, but some mornings felt more sluggish than others. Today was one of those lethargic mornings and she was still was trying to fight the urge to return to her blankets as she flicked on the bathroom lights, bare feet stepping onto cold tile floor.  
Mirrors were not her friends. This bathroom had a wrap-around mirror from counter to ceiling on three of its four walls in which she could see her entire body, not once but three times. With one look she grunted and turned her back on the mirrors, facing the shower instead. It wasn't the messy hair or the tired look on her face that bothered her, no, it was the fact that she was no longer the slim, toned, handsome youth she used to be. Over the last two years Elsa had become increasingly sedentary and withdrawn and careless with herself. So much had happened; so many nightmares flew through her mind it was hard to focus on caring about how her body looked when every day was a battle to keep the terrors at bay. Objectively though, she knew the fix for weight gain was a simple concept, but subjectively she couldn't think of where to begin with it. Instead of dwelling on it she pulled her clothes off as the water warmed in the shower, a fine steam rolling out of the open glass sliding panels that functioned as shower curtains.

Sunlight peeked over the horizon, the air crisp and cool. Elsa looked up at the sky, appreciating the beauty of it for a moment, the orange and yellows and blues, then swept her eyes out over the Puget Sound, the waters still and grey. Her view of the Sound was bordered by Vashon Island, and just behind it, barely discernible against the fog was the outline of the Olympic mountain range. In her mind's eye Elsa saw a distant figure with large webbed wings darting through the clouds and felt her heart pull with longing.

_ Beautiful... _she thought and unconsciously grabbed at her blonde ponytail, running her fingers through the waves that cascaded over her men's-cut black shirt with another rock band printed on it. The article of clothing draped formlessly off her shoulders, half covered by a dark grey zipper hoodie, which was also baggy. Elsa flicked a shed hair off her hand as she turned from the scenery and finished her walk to the bus stop, heavy black combat boots making her footsteps loud.

Riding the bus to school was another one of her least favorite activities. Elsa curled deeply into the first available window seat soon as she was on the bus, jamming headphones in her ears to block out the shouts and talking from all the kids around her. She wanted nothing to do with any of them, or their conversations. None of the other kids on the bus ever tried to engage her anyway, but the precaution was one she felt she had to take. Glacier blue eyes stared out the window as the bus began to move. Music rang in her ears as she let her thoughts drift. Images flew through her mind, a fantasy of dragons and wolves, battles and magic played out like a video. As the tracks changed the fantasy mixed with her past, distorting the story until she worked it out to being just her history. Her mother's face from the last time she saw her came into her mind causing Elsa to clasp her CD player hard, making the track to skip. Closing her eyes tightly she fought to banish the thought. Thinking about her past would only serve to consume her day with a pile of complicated emotions that always sat in the back of her mind anyway. If she let it, it could drag her to the floor and then everyone would know just how messed up and ugly she was. Elsa's teeth clenched, anger at herself growing as she tried to push unpleasantness away and refocused her gaze out the window as the bus rolled to a stop in front of her school. She sighed gratefully - school was the ultimate distraction.

Today like every other day Elsa sat in the back of the class doing her work and contributing only when called upon, which really wasn't so much different from anyone else in school she had noted. Sometimes her neighbors would talk to her, or try to, and sometimes she'd respond, but most times she'd shrug and bury her head in her tasks, and always when the lunch bell rang she'd wait for the teacher to officially dismiss the class before getting up and leaving without a word.

"Heeeey Els!" a young man's voice hailed to her as she crossed the intersecting hallways that stood before the cafeteria. She knew the voice and turned to see the owner of it, Adam. He was a large man already at sixteen, broad shouldered and with a face that looked like it could have been sculpted by Michelangelo himself. Theirs was a strange friendship, and Elsa had found kinship with the boy's weirdness which he wore proudly and she admired. Adam was cliqued as a Goth, his black wool beanie studded with spikes, his black fingernails, the unconventional way in which he assembled himself, always in blacks and grays, his washed out pale skin and ripped band shirts made him stand out from the crowd. Slowly over the course of their friendship Elsa had found herself wearing more blacks than she previously did, energized into it by Adam's uniqueness. Elsa had always thought of herself as one of the outsiders, one of the others, not part of normal teenage society. The fact that Adam not only embraced his otherness in himself but physically displayed it on his person inspired her to make bold teenage statements about being 'different' also. Sometimes she'd hear other students say "there's that Goth girl," as she passed, or "that Goth girl is so weird." "She only talks to that freak Adam." "Have you ever seen her laugh? She's like some kind of gothic ice queen." Of course these weren't comments she was meant to overhear but she almost always did. It didn't bother her so much; she had made the decision to display her otherness as plainly as Adam had. Foolish comments from kids she didn't know or care about weren't going to make her mental battlements crumble.

"Hi," she waved and went over. Adam was already at a table with their other friends, Nicky and Beth. The two girls already had their lunches in front of them and seemed to be in a conversation so Elsa gently sat down her bag next to Adam's without a word.

"Hey Elsa," Beth said kindly when she neared causing Elsa to look at her with a sliver of surprise, expecting them to ignore her for each other.  
"Hello," she said and nodded at Nicky when her brown eyes looked at her.

"Hey," Nicky said in a rougher tone then turned back to Beth.  
"Comin'?" Adam asked and moved off to the lunch line. Elsa followed after giving Beth a short parting smile. Once at the line Adam looked down at Elsa, arms folded across his chest with a clever look on his face.

"So I'll have that webcam you asked about on Monday."

"Oh, really?" Elsa smiled, playing with her pony tail again.

"Yea, it's not a very high end one though, so don't expect anything amazing."

"Not a problem," she flicked her hand away from her hair in a dismissive gesture.

"Who you gonna cam with anyway? You never told me and I want to know."

"I...well I have another friend now. She's pretty cool. Gets along with my weirdness at least." Elsa grinned, a light blush coloring her cheeks.

"That makes your friend count now...oh, two. I don't understand why you couldn't have said that sooner." He laughed when she gave him a blank look. It wasn't untrue, Adam was about the only person with whom Elsa shared even a little bit with, and people like Nicky and Beth were just people she knew superficially. She gave him a small shrug.

"Just show me that comic book you were talking about," she said as they picked up their lunch trays looking to change the subject. It worked and Adam's eyes went a little wider in mild excitement.

"Oh yah!" he exclaimed, "okay it's really crazy and dark. And bloody. In the best ways."

The rest of the meal period was carried out with easy conversation for Adam and Nicky and Beth, with Elsa flipping through the dark comic with its strange art style. Adam hadn't been kidding; it was quite the gore fest. Honestly gore wasn't so much her thing so instead of actually reading she politely skimmed while eating and mostly listened to her friends talking. Nicky wanted to go to Seattle this weekend and Beth wanted to go to the movies and they agreed Saturday would be the only full day to do things. Adam suggested they go to the movies after school today because it was only two in the afternoon when they were let out, and they could go to Seattle tomorrow. That started a whole new conversation about what movie to see and which theater to go to and by the end they decided on that year's big horror flick at the Tukwila Regal Cinema. When asked if she'd like to go with Elsa responded with a noncommittal maybe. Finally the lunch bell rang out the end of their free time and Elsa gladly handed the comic back to Adam.

"So, what'd you think?" he asked.

"A little dark," she answered vaguely, "but there's some funny jokes."

"I love the part with the ice cream bar in the handy mart," Adam laughed, "I mean, the guy's dead and he still pays for it!

"Ha! Yeah I saw that. Guys totally nuts."

"Dude, that's what it's about, him being totally crazy. It's like, who knows what he's going to do next.

"I'll bet it has something to do with blood or dark introspection," Elsa replied a little blandly then turned towards the door when Adam picked up his bag, "see you Monday."

"What, oh, see you later," he waved at her as he hefted the backpack

School passed quickly from there on out, and after school was driver's education class that her grandparents had enrolled her in, though she was almost finished with them. It was an exciting prospect that she might have her license come summer. Today there was no writing test, no pop quiz about road rules, and when it was Elsa's turn to drive the instructor simply told her to drive herself home.

"Only a few more drives Ms. Vinther and I think you'll be ready for the drive test."  
"Really?" Elsa grinned proudly then composed herself, "good, that's good."  
"Well, I'll see you on Monday," he smiled,  
"Yes thank you, see you then." Eagerly Elsa went inside.

* * *

Soft light illuminated Elsa's face, a gentle rhythmic tapping sound the only noise to be heard. The light to the office was off as were the speakers to her old Dell computer. Periodically her taskbar would blink blue, alerting her to a message. She used MSN Messenger for chatting and Bluecadia for role-playing. Elsa sighed and reclined, continuously clicking between the two programs, taking part in clipped conversations with other players of the window client game until at last the name she'd been waiting for popped up. "Sunstorm has logged in to MSN Messenger". Immediately Elsa's mind was ablaze with excitement.

_Iskolde: HEY!_  
_Sunstorm: Oh hey!_  
_Sunstorm: You beat me on today. How was your day? Lunch break was so crazy today._  
_Iskolde: Oh?_  
_Sunstorm: Yeah! Okay so, there's these two brothers, Alek and Edward, and the one, Alek, was being mean to the other I guess? I believe it because he's kind of a jerk all the time. Anyway, so they were arguing and suddenly Edward throws a banana._  
_Iskolde: ...a banana..?_  
_Sunstorm: Yes, a banana, pay attention._  
_Sunstorm: But it misses cuz Alek ducks and it flies across the dining hall and hits the lunch lady in the chin! LOL! Banana mess everywhere of course but of course she was holding a ladle full of lasagna and it flicked all over the place. I got some sauce on my dress because I was in line. It was still like.._  
_Sunstorm: One of the best things I've ever seen._  
_Iskolde: oh...my gosh...LOL WOW I would have laughed SO HARD._  
_Sunstorm: RIGHT? _  
_Iskolde: So what happened to Edward?_  
_Sunstorm: He was sent to the principal's office of course. I don't know anything beyond that._  
_Iskolde: At least it didn't start a food fight._  
_Sunstorm: Do food fights even happen anymore? Is that even a thing?_  
_Iskolde: I don't know, I've never seen one but you always hear about it in movies and stuff._  
_Sunstorm: Well if one happens I'll be sure to let you know first. Okay okay okay what did you do today?_  
_Iskolde: Nothing special, totally boring day. I had driving classes though, I'm really surprised I beat you. You're running really late._  
_Sunstorm: ...I may or may not have had to stay behind to do some make up work because I may or may not have forgotten to turn an assignment or two in._  
_Iskolde: Shame on you._  
_Sunstorm: I said I may or may not have!_  
_Iskolde: Which means you did!_  
_Sunstorm: SHHH!_

Elsa laughed airily at her computer screen, a perpetual grin on her face as the conversation continued on. They had only been talking in private chats for several months but Elsa thought she could have known Sunstorm for years, even if she did not yet know her real name. Sunstorm was a well-known role-player on Bluecadia, a client and avatar based role play game. She had a bright personality, compassionate, energetic, open and friendly with everyone, she was always glad to be part of someone's role play ideas. Elsa had read her role-plays and conversations without engaging in them for a year before she finally gathered the courage to speak directly to her. It had been a turning point for Elsa when Sunstorm received her and even began to pay special attention to her, going so far as to opt out of previous role-play plots or turning down ideas in lieu of spending time talking to Elsa. Sunstorm had cracked her out of her internet shell. In short amount of time Iskolde the dragon that was Elsa, had become a popular entity as well. First only by association but after a couple weeks it transformed into genuine interest from others. Apparently the other players liked Elsa's brand of sassiness. However, Sunstorm was the only person with whom she felt close to, or knew anything about. Elsa was a year and a half older than Sunstorm. Her favorite colors were green and pink where Elsa's favorites were purple and blue, and they both liked yellow as an accent color. Sunstorm's favorite food was fish and chips, favorite drink was hot chocolate, where Elsa's favorite food was cookies and just about anything smothered in melted cheese, but to balance it out her favorite drink was ice water. She had also learned that Sunstorm was mostly Norwegian with a little German thrown in, where Elsa was one hundred percent Danish, and that the other girl lived on an island. What island or where she hadn't said though. Elsa had told her that she lived in Des Moines Washington, not an island. Sunstorm had seemed really excited about that which made Elsa a little nervous at first, because for all she knew her chatting partner could be some creepy man on the other side of the screen, though she didn't really believe it or want to believe it. Elsa doubted that Sunstorm was a threat, but in rationality, she couldn't rule it out as a possibility. She decided the only way to quell her concerns was to see her with her own eyes and when she told Adam she wanted a webcam her luck had proven good as he provided her with a free solution. She had to evade a barrage of questioning from the boy but he eventually got the hint that she was not yet willing to share.

_Iskolde: Oh yeah hey, my friend is going to hand me his old webcam on Monday so maybe we can put MSN messenger to real work! Hahaha._  
_Sunstorm: Oh really?! _  
_Sunstorm: Awesome! _  
_Sunstorm: I've never cammed with anyone before! This will be totally bizarre._  
_Iskolde: Maybe a little at first, yeah._  
_Sunstorm: Which is totally okay because isn't it always kind of bizarre when you just meet someone even in real life like Hey I don't know you but let's talk about stuff even though we literally know nothing about one another and it could totally come off sounding crazy or creepy. _  
_Sunstorm: And I bet it's weird to like, to go interviews and stuff with this boss you've never met and have to put on a good show because they're going to judge you, but you have no idea what kind of person they are so you just have to wing it._  
_Iskolde: I...I don't know. Meeting other people really can be intimidating sure but... You're thinking about that stuff already? What, are you planning on getting a summer job?_  
_Sunstorm: Oh, no! No, I was just...trying to draw parallels... sorry if that was confusing._  
_Sunstorm: I know I go off on little tangents sometimes._  
_Iskolde: Sometimes?_  
_Sunstorm: Shush!_  
_Iskolde: Are we going to RP? You aren't even on Bluecadia yet._  
_Sunstorm: I totally forgot to log in! HAHA! Heck yah we're going to rp!_  
_Iskolde: Well hop to it missy._  
_Sunstorm: :P_


	2. Anna

It was too late to be up still, 11PM and she had to get up to meet her friends tomorrow. Heaving a sigh she stretched her back against the uncomfortable computer chair and raised her hands into the air, fingers intertwined.

"Okay Anna, time to go," she told herself, "you've got obligations in the morning," she quietly chided as she typed out a farewell to her internet friend. Really she had all kinds of internet friends, but Iskolde was the only one who was consistently keeping her up past bed time. Anna breathed a long breath again as the reply came through.

I_skolde: Awe, already? :(  
__Sunstorm: Oh hush, I've already stayed up too late talking to you.  
__Iskolde: SIGH. Come on, it's the weekend, it's not like you have to get up to go anywhere.  
__Sunstorm: Actually…I kind of do. I have a study date with some friends tomorrow morning.  
__Iskolde: Oh. Okay but still, you should be allowed to stay up until 12 at least on the weekends.  
__Sunstorm: Wouldn't that be nice? Maybe I can stomp into the living room tomorrow and demand my weekend freedoms!  
__Iskolde: Do it. DO IT.  
__Sunstorm: Oh my gosh, I can just see my mom's face holy cow. And my dad's. You don't even know, Isey.  
__Iskolde: Well maybe you could just ask nicely then.  
__Sunstorm: It wouldn't be a scream fest but it would still be a fat no.  
__Iskolde: What, do they think you're like 12 or something?  
__Sunstorm: Good god I hope not, when I was 12 it was worse. *shutters* let's not go back there.  
__Iskolde: You make me feel like an over privileged brat sometimes. My family isn't strict like that at all…  
__Iskolde: they do have their own quirks though, like, you know, being really judgmental towards everyone that isn't exactly like them. I think they'd like to see the world in cookie-cutter fashion.  
__Sunstorm: I'm pretty sure my parents would like that, too. I think our families would get along.  
__Iskolde: Maybe, I've told you about my Aunt Melinda before. I think she's actually getting worse as time goes by. Grandma is pretty old fashioned, floral and pink and bonnets.  
__Sunstorm: LOL bonnets.  
__Sunstorm: Well my parents tell me they think that spending so much time on the computer is bad for my health. I don't know where to go with that one.  
__Iskolde: Wow I don't know what to say to that one either. Maybe it's different for different people? Having you as a friend is about the best thing ever, for me.  
__Sunstorm: Oh my god.  
__Iskolde: I'm serious!  
__Iskolde: I don't have a lot of friends in the real world so having someone I can frank with is pretty awesome.  
__Sunstorm: Whatever you just like me because I'm internet famous. Just like everyone else that talks to me!  
__Sunstorm: :P  
__Iskolde: Shut up, that's so ridiculous I'm not even going to laugh. I'm just as famous as you are anyway. Speaking of, I have like six people on Bluec trying to IM me right now.  
__Iskolde ignores them all.  
__Sunstorm: YAH WHATEVER! YOU'RE ONLY FAMOUS WHEN I'M NOT AROUND!  
__Iskolde: PLEASE GIRL I'M THE SASS MASTER AND EVERYONE WANTS A PIECE OF MY HUGE SCALEY BLUE ASS.  
__Sunstorm: LMFAO Oh, oh, holy crap.  
__Sunstorm: Oh my god, Becky. Look at her butt. It's so big. She look like one o' them rapper's girlfriends or something.  
__Iskolde: LOL!  
__Sunstorm: I LIKE BIG BUTTS AND I CAN NOT LIE!  
__Sunstorm: YOU OTHER BROTHERS CAN'T DENY  
__Iskolde: THAT WHEN A GIRL WALKS IN WITH AN ITTY BITTY WAIST  
__Iskolde: THAT ROUND THING IN YOUR FACE YOU GET SPRUNG!  
__Sunstorm: Stop  
__Sunstorm: STOP  
__Sunstorm: I CAN'T LAUGH THIS LOUD, IT'S TOO LATE.  
__Iskolde wiggles ass around.  
__Iskolde: I know you want a piece of this mighty hiney.  
__Sunstorm: STAHHHP  
__Iskolde: LMAO!  
__Sunstorm: ISEY, omg I have to go.  
__Iskolde: Fine, but I know you'll be dreamin' 'bout my tremendous tooshie all night.  
__Sunstorm: Jfc. I can't with you right now. GOODNIGHT.  
__Iskolde: xD!_

Quickly before Anna could change her mind to stay longer she closed MSN messenger and turned off the monitor. Carefully so as to make as little noise as possible she pushed herself out from the computer desk in the hallway. It was a stupid place for a computer desk really but there it was. Just as quietly she pushed the chair back under the desk and set off down the hall, walking on the balls of her feet and avoiding all the creaky spots on the floor she knew so well. As outlined with Iskolde before, even though it was a weekend night Anna was apprehensive about confronting her parents. She knew they'd ask her what she was doing up so late and because she felt uneasy at the thought of telling them about Iskolde she would have to come up with some believable lie. They already knew she role played fantastical creatures online but she had always been able to tear herself away at convenient, 'proper' hours. That was, until she met Iskolde four months ago. Had it really only been four months? It felt more like four years. Anna accidentally stepped on a creaky spot in the hallway and cringed, removing her foot with slow, deliberate motions. After that she scuttled the last few steps to her room as fast as she could, bouncing on her tip toes as she went.

Her main character to role play was Sunstorm, a white-gold dragon who's best friend was the purple, blue and white frost dragon Iskolde. Sunstorm was of royal lineage within the dragon culture and Iskolde was a foreigner from the north trying to find her place in this new society. They had decided Iskolde was slowly falling in love with Sunstorm, and Sunstorm in turn was slowly falling in love with Iskolde. It was cute, even if not exactly the most original story line, but it set her on edge to talk about this particular story line with her parents like she had all the other story lines she was in. Only because they wanted to know just about everything she ever did, but with this one she felt like they'd read too much into it. Anna frowned, gently closing her bedroom door. On the back of it was a flimsy four foot tall mirror and she stared at herself in it, scrutinizing the freckled face and messy copper hair. Her frown did not diminish as she watched herself, touching the shock of platinum blond in her mussed mane, feeling her heart palpitate as she thought about Iskolde and her parents.

"Just go to bed Anna," she scolded herself after another moment. Quickly before her mind had time to wander again she pulled off her clothes and wiggled into bed with nothing but underwear on. She flopped an arm over her face and groaned, letting the appendage slowly slip off her head and land on her pillow. Light burst behind her eyelids when her arm moved and she shot her eyes open again.

_I forgot to turn off the light. God damn it now I'm comfortable and don't want to get up. Why, why! Whhhyy! _

With an irritated groan she ran her hands over her face and lay for another moment in mild irate laziness before getting up to turn off the light. As soon as the lights were off her mind buzzed with thoughts again. The dark room would cast its spell on her soon enough however. Insomnia was not one of her problems.

_I_t's_ so lucky though… Iskolde lives in Des Moines, that's so close. Well relatively, it's still a pain. But everything is a pain when you live on an island unless you do things on the island, and let's face it, Seattle is way more fun. I really hope Isey doesn't turn out to be some hideous weirdo...that would be unfortunate because who knows, if she turns out to be a totally normal person I bet we could actually be...well we could know each other in real life and not on the internet! Oh my gosh that would be so cool! She's already way cooler than most of the people I know. That doesn't mean they're bad people though! She's just...cooler...like ice cold cooler._

Anna buried her face in her pillows to stop her laughter from ringing down the hall at her own ridiculous pun. Iskolde's name literally meant ice cold in Danish. After containing herself Anna found her thoughts quickly blurring and becoming nonsense as sleep began to come over her in waves. I_ hope she's as cool in real life as she is online_, she yawned, burying her face in her pillows, s_he says she's the total opposite in real life though. I wonder how much of that…is true…I bet she's,.._ Another yawn, _fine._

* * *

"I'm late!" Anna hurried around her room making a terrible racket slamming dresser drawers, opening and closing her closet a hundred times, a brush stuck in the tangles of her crazy red hair. Throwing articles of clothing away from her as she dug for an outfit she finally found and decided on a striped green skirt bordered with a pink and blue crocus flower design. Underneath the skirt she pulled on light grey spandex leggings. For her top she chose a tight fitting grey sport shirt with green sleeves and slight v neck. She liked green, it brought out the subtle colors in her eyes. Most people would classify them as blue, but really they were an odd teal color and she thought of them as her most unique feature. Those same eyes darted to the door when she heard the handle rattle.

"Anna what is going on in here?" A handsome sharp nosed man with golden brown eyes and the same red hair Anna had grew in a delicately styled beard stood in the doorway.

_It's a damn good thing I'm dressed, dad._ "Hi dad," she said instead and instantly her crazed energy heeled as she looked around her room. It was a disaster zone. With a sheepish grin she grabbed the brush still stuck in her hair and steadily but quickly began brushing. "I uh...I'm just late to meet some friends. I promised I'd go study with them in the library...and I couldn't decide what to wear, so..."

"I see," her father nodded, "well you know to be home for dinner. I also expect this mess to be cleaned when you return," he pointed at the room. Anna nodded and moved the brush to the other side of her head. His eyes watched her for a moment until he seemed satisfied, moving his feet as if to take his leave then stopped suddenly and looked back to his daughter. "Oh yes, please don't spend all night on the computer tonight."

Anna's eyes went a little wider and she stared at her father's face, alarmed with cheeks burning red. He must have heard the creak from the hallway when she'd been inattentive. Damn, she'd have to be more careful.

"I-I-I... ...okay. Yes dad," she stammered and made to move past him, the brush in her hand sliding through now mostly combed hair.

"See you tonight sweetie," he said as he stepped away to let her through.

"Yep," Anna replied and put the finishing touches on her hair, tying it on either side of her head into pig tails. She made one more check to make sure she had everything and once she was assured she was out the door, shrugging her sweater on as she rushed down the driveway.

Anna's feet, covered by the thin fabric of her green Chucks, pounded the pavement as she hustled to the library, clutching her notebooks tight in her hands. Kristoff and Merida were already standing outside the library doors when she arrived. Anna approached just in time to see Merida smack the boy with a book, her tight red curls bouncing wildly as she leapt at him, the sight eliciting a fond laugh. Two pairs of eyes turned and she ran over to them, giving Merida a friendly hug and Kristoff a punch to his shoulder. The boy made a face and rubbed the spot he'd been punched in.

"You really don't know your own strength," he complained.

"What are you two fighting about now?" Anna asked good naturedly, ignoring Kristoff's whining. Merida waved her hand and half closed her eyes in a dismissive gesture,

"Oo nothin," her voice came out with a thick Scottish accent, "this great boggin was tellin me I got a wee moos in my hair." Anna blinked.

"Moose...? Like a…" she looked up at Kristoff who had suddenly let out an enormous laugh to which Merida responded by crinkling her nose at him, "moose...?" Anna thought for half a second more then laughed along with Kristoff. "A mouse! Like a rat's nest! Oh my god Kristoff that is so rude! AH! HAHAHAH! BUT IT'S TRUE!," she hollered and darted away when Merida lunged at her.

"Well I dinnae see your hair done all fancy!" Merida howled after her.

"Oh Merida, you know we think your hair is lovely," Anna heard Kristoff say and turned back around, a giggle still in her throat, "but sometimes I think you could pass for the Wheedle on the Needle." This comment sent all three of them into renewed laughter and after a moment Merida pointed a finger at Anna,

"And she couldnae? She's a fire head too!" Kristoff seemed to think for an instant then nodded,

"Actually, I think you should both go to the top of the Space Needle and replace the light. I bet no one would even notice a difference." Anna rolled her eyes and let out a snort, leaning an arm on Merida's shoulder.

"Well Mr. Bjorgman, I think you should take better hygienic care of yourself. If you stepped into a pig farm, the pigs would mistake you for one of their own by smell alone." It was Kristoff's turn to look indignant which sent their Scottish friend into such a fit of laughter that Anna had to hold her up so she wouldn't fall on the dirty sidewalk. It was a little ineffectual though, since Anna too was laughing almost as hard. Kristoff just stood and sulked.

"I can't help that I have such a manly smell!" he finally said, throwing his arms to the side which only caused the girls to laugh harder, and this time their knees did meet the ground, Anna complaining about stitches in her sides between ragged breaths.

"Och you smell like a dog after a soak in the rain," Merida shot at him, stumbling to stand up again. Anna grabbed the hem of her friends' dress to pull herself up but Kristoff put his hand out and yanked her to her feet when she accepted it.

"Alright alright," the boy blushed, "let's just study for this research paper already."

"Can't handle the heat, don't stand in the kitchen," Anna quipped at him with a smile. Kristoff shook his head.

"Okay feisty-pants, you've got the notes, I've got the drinks," he elbowed the backpack slung around one arm, "Merida's got the snacks, let's go bore our brains out."

Merida leaned over to Anna, whispering to her as they walked into the squat brick building, "I brought Danishes,"she said with a lightly teasing tone, "since that internet friend of yours is Danish."

Anna's cheeks were suddenly as red as Merida's curls, "I really should not have told you anything," she sighed as Merida giggled, "you're so cruel."

The bouncy Scottish girl just shrugged, "Well yoo are the one who's got a crush on a computer screen," she smirked. Anna snapped her head to stare at the other redhead and was momentarily contemplating objecting loudly, even opening her mouth to yell about it and raised her hand as though she was about to make a serious point, but instead she dropped her hand and frowned.

"Just don't say anything to my parents or Kristoff," she pleaded, "especially my parents. If you ever meet them. In fact, just don't say anything about crushes around them." _Besides I'm not even sure if this classifies as a legitimate crush in the first place._

"Don't cha worry mah wee gel. We're family after all," Merida smiled and bumped her shoulder against Anna which comforted the pig-tailed girl into feeling easy again and bumped Merida back.

"Too bad for my love of a computer screen," Anna said whimsically, "we could have worked so well, you and I," she sighed in an exaggerated way.

"Don't joke," Merida wrinkled her nose again and Anna laughed which made Kristoff turn around to see what was funny, his mouth opening to make a comment that was cut out by a hard shush from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see the librarian who'd snuck up on them giving them a stern look. Anna grinned and blushed and Kristoff just shook his head and pointed at a table in the very back that was open. He knew the two girls so well. Neither were quiet, especially not together. At least in the back they wouldn't be shushed as often. He was right. Fifteen minutes into the study session Anna lost focus and began making jokes about the subject, using her pencil as a spear. Merida willingly joined in, picking up her pencil and jabbing it in the air, announcing herself as the invading settlers come to chase Anna's tribe out of their lands.

"That's not actually how it went," Kristoff said straight faced as he grabbed Anna's weapon and placed it back on the table. "According to this book, the Wampanoag actually had an alliance with the English settlers and taught them how to farm. It wasn't until they started dying off from English diseases that a resistance sprung up."

"Yes, yes," Anna blew air out of her lips causing her bangs to flutter, "they're the reason we have Thanksgiving."

"No," Merida cut in, "actually the first records of a fall harvest celebration shared by both tribe and settlers was in 1637, a lot later than first contact with the Wampanoag."

Anna and Kristoff both looked at Merida in astonishment. Neither one of them had taken her to be particularly studious since she was always goofing off in class. Merida was much more predisposed to spend her time shooting arrows or riding horses. She took lessons at Westside Stables but dreamed about owning her own barn with horses.

"What?" the fiery redhead said, looking between her friends.

"I'm just surprised you know such specifics," Anna blurted out, "because it's not like this is you know…fun."

"Are you saying I don't pay attention to anything that isn't fun?" Merida scoffed and grabbed another reference book and cracked it open, scanning the pages.

"Well I-" Anna began but was silenced when the book her friend had just picked up landed with a muffled thump on the table.

"UGH but this is a real drain," she groaned, flopping back in her chair, arms hanging limply at her sides, tight red curls spilling down the back of her chair.

"Oh come on," Kristoff interjected, "don't give up now girls. The sooner we get this done the better. Then we can go celebrate by getting an ICEE or something."

"Or chocolate cake."

"Or apple pie."

"How about all three?" The blonde boy suggested. Anna snatched up the book Merida had tossed and began flipping through the pages with renewed vigor. Merida whimpered beside her and picked up the pencil she'd also dropped. "Seriously, I think you two would flunk life if I wasn't around."

"Yeah," Anna peeked over the book, "but your life would be sad, lonely and boring without us around."

"I have other friends," he protested and both Anna and Merida gave him the 'oh really?' look. Kristoff just huffed and stuffed half a Danish in his mouth to stop himself from making any further silly remarks Anna assumed. Well, now that he had got them back on task it was probably wise to stay that way. Willfully Anna resigned herself to the work, reading articles out loud as Merida and Kristoff took notes to compile into their research paper later.


	3. Elsa - Webcam Session One

School bells chimed loudly but the sound couldn't have come soon enough for Elsa who was sitting with practiced calm, hands folded on her desk, all her supplies already neatly placed into her over-shoulder school bag in anticipation of the day's end. Usually she was careful to wait for dismissal but today she snagged the strap of her bag and bolted for the door as soon as the last notes of the bell were trailing away. She could hear the teacher's surprised exclamation as she jogged down the hall and knew she'd be addressing it later with her, but right now it wasn't a concern. When Elsa arrived at her driver's ed class with the door locked and lights off she wanted to kick herself. Of course it hadn't started yet, she'd bolted out of the class before dismissal. Almost no one was out of class yet. Elsa began to pace, annoyed at herself and annoyed she couldn't just go home right now. Several moments of pacing later she saw her bus pull up in the pick up zone and contemplated getting on it, however the decision was taken from her when she was interrupted by her driving instructor.

"My you're here early Elsa," he said, looking at her with mild surprise.

Startled Elsa turned around quickly, expression turning from surprise to a sideways glance and an askew smile followed by a tiny huff, "Yeah sorry I'm just excited today I guess...um... can...can I drive first today? Or are we having a test?"

Mr. Sulon blinked and then looked thoughtful. "Well what do you feel you need to work on?" he asked, "your parallel parking, backing around a corner, or do you need to review the rules for the road?"

Elsa looked confused. Wasn't he supposed to have a syllabus planned out for them? She fidgeted as she thought. "Parallel parking practice would be good I suppose," she answered quietly and Mr. Sulon nodded.

"I was going to have the students do a test today," he said, tapping his clipboard against his side, "but since you're almost done with my class, why don't you just answer some of the questions verbally for me? And then we'll go driving first and get you home before four today. Oh, and we need to figure out when to schedule your driving test. Talk to your family and see when you can borrow the car."

Elsa looked up at her instructor more than a little surprised by his kindness. Most of her teachers were rather over professional and sometimes standoffish, but there had to be at least some good ones in the group sometimes didn't there?

"Th...Thank you. That's really awesome...and I will." With a short grin Mr. Sulon brought out his clipboard and began reading off questions. Elsa only got one wrong, and by the time they were done all the other students had arrived and were listening in, waiting for the class to begin.

Home, home at last. Elsa put the car in park and turned it off. She couldn't get her seatbelt off fast enough as she grabbed her messenger bag from behind the driver seat and slipped out of the vehicle, leaving the door open for the next driver. She nodded at the boy who climbed out of the back and had been burdened with her bag on his feet. He nodded back and eased himself into the driver seat.

"Good job today Elsa," Mr. Sulon said around the boy's head, "parallel parking is pretty hard, but you're getting the hang of it."

"Thank you Mr. Sulon," she responded, inching away from the car. When he looked away and focused on the new student she darted to the door and yanked it open, making an immediate line for her bedroom. Frantically she searched her closet for something nicer to wear. She didn't really know why she wanted to look nice for Sunstorm when she didn't care a bit about how nice she looked for kids at school, but yes, she wanted to look pretty. She found a dark pink spaghetti strap top, the pink broken by many dark blue stripes. Over the tank top she put a lightweight brown hoodie with cute ruffles following the zipper line. Her bottom didn't matter, webcams really only got to see from the shoulders up so she left her jeans on. The bathroom was her next destination. Her thick, thick blonde hair had become messy over the course of the day and she grabbed pick, comb and brush, filled the sink with water and began brushing until her hair was damp and smooth. When finished she fished in a drawer and produced a hair tie with a cute plastic snowflake on it. With a grin she plaited her hair into a thick braid that hung over her left shoulder, ran a hand through her bangs and hair sprayed them in place with the other hand. Bobby pins helped also, though this style would still fall loose after a few hours, though it was very nice. Elsa hadn't worn her hair in this fashion for two years now and looking into the mirror she felt a tingle of morose nostalgia. Tearing her eyes away from the mirror to escape the feeling she put all her supplies away quickly then retrieved the webcam from her bag and stepped into the computer room.

Immediate comfort washed over her when she entered the room. It was always warm in here, the four computer towers never allowing for the cold, their quiet whirring a peaceful noise. Elsa breathed a deep swallow of air and slowly let it out as she bent to plug in her new webcam to the back of her computer's tower. Sighing for the umpteenth time that day she turned on the computer and anxiously waited for it to boot up. Spring rain began to patter on her window; the normally soothing sound was now like the ticking impatience she felt. The black of her computer screen reflected a distorted image of her face and she distracted herself by fiddling with her braid, making the plaits look thicker, making sure the snowflake was visible at the bottom. Several more long minutes passed before she was finally logged in to MSN messenger. Her gratification was palpable when she saw Sunstorm already logged in and waiting.

_Sunstorm: Hey welcome back :)  
__Iskolde: Glad to see you on already!  
__Sunstorm: Well of course I am, it's like what? Five? Gosh Isey, I've been on for at least an hour.  
__Iskolde: Oh.. right I guess I lost track of time. My driving instructor had me really focused on parallel parking today.  
_Though he had said she would be done before now... oh well.  
_Sunstorm: Man that is one thing I am not looking forward to when I turn sixteen. Parallel parking seems like such a hassle and I'd feel totally bad if I ran into another car :(  
__Iskolde: It's not all that bad once you get over being afraid.  
__Sunstorm: LOL isn't that the same with everything though?  
__Iskolde: I don't know, maybe :P  
__Sunstorm: Speaking of things not being so bad once you get over being nervous...weren't we supposed to be camming today? Because oh my gosh am I nervous! Whew!  
__Sunstorm: I MEAN um that because I've never cammed with anyone before. You know, cuz on the internet you can say you are anything but what you are. I mean, hah! We pretend we're dragons and we're not actually dragons in real life! So it's just. ...  
__Sunstorm: I'll stop talking now sorry.  
__Iskolde: We don't have to cam tonight if you're nervous, it's not imperative._

Elsa frowned, crossing her ankles together and staring at her keyboard. She'd been so excited to cam with Sunstorm she hadn't thought to consider whether or not Sun herself would be too scared to. But also she knew if she did not get an answer to her question of Sunstorm's identity, she knew the relationship would never be anything more than superficiality, and Elsa felt desperately close to her already. She wasn't sure why Sunstorm was the person she had grown closest to, but she had and nothing could change it now. A burning in the pit of her stomach began and she slipped her hands into her lap and curled them there, anxiously preparing for disappointment. She didn't want to push Sun into doing anything she couldn't handle, but Elsa wanted so much to cam with her, to say they were actually friends, to tell Adam what she looked like, to make the fantasy of their relationship more real. Elsa wished she really were Iskolde the dragon. Often she wished this. If she were she could be unafraid of anything, unworried about anyone, and most of all she could spend time with whoever she wanted to spend time with...and fly away from herself and her past. Her chest began to clench as the silence stretched on. Finally a small ringing sound broke through the quiet like a gong and Elsa's hands flew to her mouse and keyboard.

_Sunstorm: I am nervous but it's okay. I still want to cam with you. Sorry that took me so long to answer, I was looking for my webcam. I found it hiding under a shirt on my bed, hah. Silly me.  
__Iskolde: Really? You sure?  
__Sunstorm: Really really.  
__Iskolde: I.. good. Super "cool" x)  
__Sunstorm: Puns, they never get old, they're so fantastice.  
__Iskolde: LOL! That sounds more like fantasize.  
__Sunstorm: Oh it does. Well I fantasice about dragons. There, better?  
__Iskolde: Perfect. Okay, let's do this quick, like a Band-Aid.  
__Sunstorm: Oh yes, okay._

Trembling fingers pressed on the mouse, the cursor hovering over the little camera icon underneath her personal avatar. Immediately her own picture popped up on the screen, blurry and out of focus. Sunstorm hadn't turned her's on yet. Elsa took that moment to rotate the lens of the camera until it was as clear as she could make it. Fuzzy and grainy still, but at least she didn't look like a blob, and when she smiled her picture smiled, when she frowned her picture frowned, when she bit her finger, so did her picture. She waved a hand testing how well it followed movement. It was slow but not overly so. Suddenly another face appeared on her screen and startled her. Elsa had still been waving at her camera when Sunstorm's face came up, and before she could get a good look at her a hand was waving back at her. Elsa grinned and waited for the hand to move.

Beautiful, that's all she could think when she saw Sunstorm for the first time. She had blue eyes, auburn hair with a shock of blonde and more tiny freckles than she could count. Sunstorm was thin and fit with full lips and an adorable button nose that accented her round face perfectly. Elsa didn't notice when she'd grabbed the end of her braid but she did notice when Sunstorm tucked a loose hair behind her ear and ever so delicately chewed on her lip. Not at all a creepy older man, or even an old woman, she was another teenager just like she said she was, and she was absolutely adorable.

_Sunstorm: Wow, so that's you._

A smile followed the comment.

_Iskolde: I could say the same. Did you dress up just for me?_

Elsa winked. Sunstorm's face changed just a bit, and was it her or did her cheeks look a little red?

_Sunstorm: Me? Dress up? Of course not.  
__Sunstorm: Your hair is so blonde and thick though! I love it! And hahaha a snowflake hair tie oh wow that's so fitting I adore it._

Elsa's turn to blush and she hid her face a little bit behind her hair.

_Iskolde: Thank you. If anything on me is nice, it's my hair.  
_Elsa smirked and shrugged her shoulders._  
__Sunstorm: If anything is nice on you? What kind of thinking is that? You look nice!  
__Sunstorm: I mean, you're not ugly. Like at all._

A real blush now and it made her lips break in a gentle chuckle to watch Sunstorm fidget in her seat, but she knew she was fidgeting too. Elsa was unused to compliments, especially compliments like "you're not ugly." Those kind of sentiments were exceedingly rare.

_Iskolde: Well neither are you. Ugly that is.  
__Sunstorm: Aww...thank you so much. I think I'm pretty ordinary looking though._

Elsa shook her head and laughed. Didn't most people think themselves ordinary looking? Isn't that why girls dressed up, to try and look more beautiful than they actually thought themselves to be? Sunstorm didn't look all that ordinary to her though, to Elsa she was absolutely gorgeous. The relief she felt right then was certainly written all over her face, so glad her chat partner had turned out to be a normal person and not a weirdo.

_Iskolde: Well you're super cute so don't worry about that.  
__Iskolde: Hey wait a minute...is your computer in a...hallway?  
__Sunstorm: YES isn't that just the stupidest thing? I have no idea why my parents decided to set it up in the hall. At least yours is in your bedroom.  
__Iskolde: Oh, no no this is the office actually. Grandma and Grandpa's computers are over there._

Elsa pointed the camera to the right letting Sunstorm get a view of the room.

_Sunstorm: Woooow cool! You have a whole room dedicated to computers!_

She grinned sheepishly at Sunstorm's excited face.

_Iskolde: Well I told you my grandparents are kind of rich. We live on the beach, even though there's a huge cliff down to it, we still own part of it. I feel like I've told you this.  
__Sunstorm: You did but still having a whole room dedicated to just computers, that's so neat._

Elsa shrugged nonchalantly. She had long grown used to living somewhat lavishly. Not blue-blood lavish by any stretch, but certainly upper middle class lavish. She watched Sunstorm smile at her then duck away after a quick comment.

_Sunstorm: Hey watch this!_

She came back a moment later with big huge black glasses on that did not at all fit her face or compliment her in any way, and then slowly placed a wild haired wig on her head. Elsa's eyes went wide as she watched, an uncontrollable smile on her face, but when Sunstorm's fingers poked through the eyeholes to reveal there weren't any lenses she burst into laughter that only got louder as Sunstorm danced and jiggled, the wig falling over her face once, and then completely fell off at one point leaving a cowlick of red-brown hair in its wake. Her hands were at her face as she laughed, fingertips barely brushing her lips.

Conversation after that became much less awkward as both girls grew accustomed to the action and reaction of the other through the camera lens. Elsa enjoyed every second she got to see Sunstorm on her screen, taking mental note of every bit of body language the girl expressed that she could, wanting to remember them as though it would make their friendship a reality and not a fantasy, as though it would bring her closer. It was bliss, her fantastical world turning real through Sunstorm. Several times during the conversation she threw her hands at the camera as though producing ice magic out of her fingers which was her character's ability, which sent the girl on the other end into animated fits of movement.

"Man alive," Elsa heard from behind her suddenly and, startled she jumped up to see her grandfather standing there.

"Oh g-grandpa hello," she said looking shocked and a little nervous.

"I just came in because I heard so much laughing and I thought goodness, what could be so funny that it's got Elsa in an uproar? It must be something I want to see."

A genuine smile lit Elsa's face as she looked at her grandfather. He was a good man with a good heart, gentle and sincere but easily excited and always enthusiastic, and most of all he didn't judge her for being so introverted. He was happy to let her be herself.

"It's just my friend and I. Um, my friend at school gave me a webcam so Su...so we could see one another."

"A webcam?" her grandfather's eyes narrowed, but not in suspicion, in misunderstanding, "what is a webcam?"

"Oh it's um…you know like a video camera? Only for the computer. But it doesn't actually record anything I don't think."

"You know, you'd think I'd know about that being the owner of a software company," the man laughed, "well just be careful who you use that with." Grandpa leaned over then and sent a wave towards the monitor. Elsa looked behind her and saw Sunstorm wave back, a big smile on her face. Elsa's heart fluttered at the sight.

"Have fun then, and don't stay up too late. It is only Monday."

"Don't worry Grandpa, we were almost done," Elsa assured him as he walked out of the room. Slowly Elsa turned back to her computer, heaving out a sigh and sitting at her chair.

_Sunstorm: Was that your grandpa?  
__Iskolde: Yes, he heard me laughing and wanted to see what I was laughing about.  
__Sunstorm: Oh, just me you know. Doing a little jig, having my hair fall off. The usual._

Another laugh came out but this one was quieter and shorter, and as Elsa watched Sunstorm a weird feeling came over her, something she didn't recognize but was at the same time calming and put her at ease. She couldn't stop smiling. Sunstorm was doing the same. They watched one another for a moment before, embarrassed, Elsa pretended to do something else on the screen and with her hands, typing random words into Bluecadia's chat box and never sending them when really she was quietly watching Sunstorm the whole time. It wasn't so unusual for her to watch people, she did it almost all the time at school, but with Sunstorm she felt like maybe it was some weird form of voyeurism and it made her feel flustered.

_Iskolde: I had a lot of fun today. Thank you for camming with me. We should definitely do it more often now.  
__Sunstorm: Yes, we gott- wait are you leaving?_

With a frown Elsa nodded at the camera.

_Iskolde: Sorry! I have a lot of homework to do and it's already almost 8. You have to go soon anyways._

That wasn't the truth though, or at least not all of it. She did have a lot of homework but the truth was, she was getting embarrassed and feeling awkward to a point she didn't know what to do with her hands or face anymore, or where to look. Sunstorm was so unlike anyone she'd ever met before the reality of how opposite they were was starting to sink in, but the reality that she was feeling so much more than she did when she was with anyone else was making her confused and disgruntled. It was time to go because she didn't want to look like a moron.

_Sunstorm: Shoot, I do have to go soon. What crap, I was having fun.  
Sunstorm: Hey maybe we should try talking on the phone some time! Now we've seen each other's faces, we should know each other's voices too!  
__Iskolde: Good idea, we should. Maybe this weekend when we don't have to worry about school.  
__Sunstorm: Yes! Perfect!_

Sunstorm was smiling so broadly and Elsa felt her heart flutter again. Her return smile wasn't as bright or big, but it was warm. After a moment she raised her hand and waved a goodbye.

_Sunstorm: Before you go, I want to tell you something.  
__Iskolde: Oh?_

She was blushing again as Elsa watched her and vaguely wondered why.

_Sunstorm: My name is Anna. Well, Annika actually but everyone calls me Anna. Annika Gilbertsen._

The blush was returned then along with a happy smile. Though Sunstorm couldn't see it, Elsa's breath caught for a second. Anna. Annika. So now she knew.

_Iskolde: That's a beautiful name. My name is Elsa Vinther.  
__Sunstorm: Good grief talk about beautiful names and yours will win every time.  
__Iskolde: You think so? I always thought my last name was a little strange.  
__Sunstorm: HAH! It's absolutely gorgeous! My last name is weird and awkward.  
__Iskolde: Well thank you, but your name isn't bad either!  
__Iskolde: Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow Anna._

Using her name for the first time sent electricity through her fingertips and Elsa grunted at herself. Whatever the hell that was, control your damn self! she mentally yelled.

_Sunstorm: Goodnight Elsa, good luck on your homework!_

If Elsa thought that Anna using her name was going to make her melt she was totally unprepared for when the girl kissed her fingers and placed them on the camera lens. All she could do in response was grin stupidly and nod, her hands frozen in a hover over her keyboard. She gulped and without thinking clicked the camera icon again, turning it off before Anna could see her face contort with strangled emotion she had no idea what to do with. Feeling wobbly as though she'd just woken up she stood and used the wall for support all the way back to her bedroom at the back of the rambler manse. What the hell kind of reactions were these? Elsa had never felt this way around anyone before, ever. She had no name for it and it threw her off balance, off center, scared her even and for the briefest of moments made her toy with the idea of running away from it. The thought was almost immediately thrown away, for Sunstorm - No, Anna had suddenly become one of the most important people in her life. Her guts roiled, a faint burn seared up her stomach and tingled on her finger tips causing her to curl her hand into a fist as sudden dread filled her psyche. Everything could get so complicated from here.


	4. Elsa - A Family Affair

**Eh I'm not 100% pleased with this chapter still. Oh well here it is, finally. Sorry for the lack of Anna/Elsa interaction! I know this chapter may feel like filler but it's actually essential plot build up.  
Enjoy :)**

-Danika

* * *

Laying on her bed breathing slowly and deliberately Elsa stared up at her off-white ceiling. It was Friday after school and had been four days since her first webcam encounter with Anna. Since then the two had seemed abstracted from one another. They still talked but it was shorter, more awkward. Elsa was supposed to call Anna tomorrow. Or Anna was supposed to call her, either way it didn't seem to matter much, but at the rate they were going now they'd be lucky if they made it through more than five minutes of conversations before they grew awkward and quiet again. Elsa wasn't entirely sure what happened and she sighed heavily turning over on her side. She'd told Anna she wouldn't be around tonight in lieu of a family party. Anna hadn't seemed in the least perturbed or disappointed and Elsa found herself a little saddened for that.

"What's it for?" Anna had asked and Elsa responded with a shrug.

"Nothing, they just like to get together sometimes. Usually happens twice a month, but lately it's been more like once a month."

"That's cool. Hope you have fun."

"Thanks." The conversation had gone cold after that, only a few words passing intermittently between them until Anna left for the night.

_I can't think about this right now_, she mused to herself, _Anna is probably just on her period or something I don't know. Maybe I'm going to be on mine soon. Whatever, I don't know_. Elsa glanced at her closet and with a sudden movement kicked her legs off the bed, making her way to it. Most of her family didn't approve of the way she dressed, and every time there was a family gathering Elsa would look through her clothing for something that was at least in part more conservative. Something that wasn't completely black or studded or baggy. Finding something to wear was always a challenge and she usually settled on the spaghetti strap tank top she'd worn for Anna. Elsa didn't own a pair of intact jeans though, so she slid her legs into her pink checkered pajama bottoms and pulled her jeans over those, her pajamas covering the skin that would normally show on her knees. Next she moved to the bathroom to work on pining up her thick, crazy hair.

Today she was at a truce with the mirror as she leaned into it, prodding at her updo, a smirk on her face as she recalled her fiasco from several months ago. On a rare impulse she thought to immerse herself in the identity of the "goth girl" at school, to show off just how goth she could be. She had convinced Adam - without much trouble really - to accompany her to the local drug store and then the mall where they would purchase the necessary items for her makeover. Black hair dye, a makeup kit of assorted dark colors, a spiked leather choker that was actually the most expensive purchase of the night, coupled with some studded bracelets. She'd also purchased a new shirt and lightweight zipper sweater. She wore the sweater now. It was black of course, but had sharp fabric flower patterns on it that marked it decidedly female yet still rather gothic. It wasn't the sweater that was ever the issue that day. After Elsa had finished dying her hair and applying her make-up she wasn't sure how to feel about it. The darkness of her hair completely washed out her already pale face. Vampire they'd called her with gasps of surprise. With her dark make up caked on with it, she really did look like a corpse. Adam assured her that was kind of the goal for some goths. Elsa had quickly decided it was not her goal. Still, she continued the look without faltering in it until the black dye faded and grew out, though it initially drew more attention to her than she was comfortable with. Luckily teenagers are creatures of the moment and quickly the attention shifted from her to the next new thing. Elsa was still reminiscing when her vision went black. Startled her hands flew to her eyes only to find another set of hands covering them.

"Elsie-welsie!" a very excited female voice said through the blackness and Elsa spun around, expression melting from indignance to passive acceptance as she rolled her eyes.

"Pun-pernickle," she jived back, pushing fingers into her cousin's belly with a challenging look. Her cousin just groaned then threw her arms around Elsa's neck, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Wow, I missed you too Goldie," she said, trying to writhe away from the squeeze, "I think we'd have more fun if you'd let me breathe."

"I'm having my name officially changed to Goldie one of these days, so you can't call me stupid things like Pun-pernickle," she said and let Elsa slip from her grasp.

"Oh right like Elsie-Welsie is any better." Goldie snorted and stepped towards the mirror, fluffing her short brunette hair.

"We passed Aunt Melinda and Uncle Robert on the road. I guess they're coming tonight."

"Oh, really? I don't know why she comes if she's just going to act like she doesn't like any of us anymore."

Goldie shrugged; "Probably for the kids."

Right, Elsa thought, Brian, Cody, and Riana. They were more of Elsa's cousins. Elsa and Goldie were second oldest after Goldie's older sister, Kailynn, who was twenty one. Goldie was seventeen and Elsa sixteen, after her was aunt Lydia's oldest, Jacqueline at ten, then was Jenna at eight, Brian at seven, Sarah, who was also Lydia's, was six, Cody was five, and of course baby Riana.

"Eh," Elsa turned aside and walked out of the bathroom, her cousin quickly catching up with her. They'd barely made it past the office when the high shrieks of children pierced the air. It would of course be Brian and Cody arguing. Elsa didn't bother greeting them. Malinda was surly and her children were uninterested in the older girls. Elsa was sure she'd see her aunt later at the party and would make proper hellos and how do you dos then if the woman seemed inclined to the chatter, otherwise Elsa was perfectly fine keeping her distance. The two girls turned a corner into a store room where their grandparents had stashed the soda pop for the party. With mischievous giggles they tore open a box of Dr.P. Elsa tossed her older cousin a can and they both quickly escaped, retreating into the office.

Ten minutes of utterly mindless and frivolous conversation passed between them. It wasn't typically Elsa's cup of tea but after some cajoling she was usually able to direct conversations onto more relevant subjects. Tonight though, Goldie seemed set on blathering about the completely inconsequential things so Elsa did what she could to deflect and avoid the absolute bore of it, her soda almost gone by the end of the ten minutes. Getting ready to move the conversation over to some fantastical dream or some nerdy topic they both heard footsteps pound down the hall and in a flash of dark blonde hair and sea green top, a ten year old body slammed into Goldie with an excited shout. Goldie stumbled, wrapping her arms around Jacquie's back and twirling her around energetically. Elsa breathed a sigh of relief and kicked her heels up onto her desk. Jacquie would wear Goldie out enough for her to be more subdued and Elsa would be able to talk more frankly with her. Of everyone in the world, except maybe Anna, Elsa felt closest with Goldie. A minor frown tugged at her lips. How pathetic that she should feel so close to her cousin and yet her cousin knew nothing pressing about her. Elsa just didn't know how to bring it up. She trusted Goldie enough with certain things but... she pushed out the thought when Jacquie poked her in the side and opened her arms for a hug. Which a half grin Elsa bent over and wrapped the skinny girl in one arm for a moment.

"Oh here's where you went," an adult female voice said above their heads, tinted with amusement. Elsa craned her neck up and back, turning to see Lydia in the doorway of the office, "right to Rapunzel of course." Goldie groaned audibly and Elsa smirked. "Hello to you also Elsa," her aunt smiled, ignoring Goldie's noise of protest.

"Hello Aunt Lydia," she replied as sweetly as she could. Elsa liked Lydia, perhaps even loved her. Lydia was not hard and judgmental like Malinda was. Elsa had wanted to love Malinda because she was a strong and independent woman; someone whom she felt she could learn something from, but Malinda was a curt, cold woman. Malinda's husband however was an absolute tool and did whatever he was told, where as Lydia's husband was a fairly vapid, placid man. Goldie's mother, Geri, was a nice woman though. Geri's real name was Gertrude, but she hated it as much as Goldie hated her real name, too. Sometimes Goldie would quip at her mother for naming her something so unconventional when she had gone through life with an equally dated name. Geri would just shrug her shoulders and say she was 'passing on the legacy' which kind of sounded more like 'someone has to share my suffering'. Elsa actually cared about Geri. Geri's husband was a nice guy. He didn't talk much and was more prone to expressing himself in actions over words, but he was alright. Of all the adults however, Elsa loved her grandfather most. He was always kind and affectionate with the right amount of dry humor to offset his excitable nature. It was also her grandfather who seemed to either ignore or grow accustomed to her strangeness and was the only adult who never asked her about a love life or clothing or music or habits and hobbies. He seemed perfectly content to let Elsa be Elsa. The same couldn't be said for Lydia, but at least the woman was gentle about it. She pointed at a stack of books and papers on the desk beside Elsa's shoulder.

"Did they give you weekend homework?" she asked and Elsa looked over at the papers.

"Some of my classes," Elsa shrugged, "I don't mind. French is hard, so...the extra practice is good."

Lydia looked at Elsa with incredulousness, her hands coming up to rest on her hips. "What kid doesn't mind homework?

Elsa resisted the urge to tilt her head, an old habit that she thought made her look like a child; or a dog. Dedicated? Did she seem dedicated? She just did the work assigned to her and that was all. Why complain about it when she could do it and not have it on the table anymore in the same amount of time she would have spent whining about having to do it? Or avoiding doing it. Elsa just shrugged in response and before Lydia could say any more Jacquie was at her side, tugging at her shirt sleeve.

"Mommy," the younger girl said, "when are we allowed to get dinner? I'm hungry."

Lydia looked from her daughter to Goldie then Elsa with a concentrated expression as though Jacquie's question was of utmost importance. That's how Lydia was; she wasn't one of those deep thinkers. Simple things captured her, the deeper things going over her head and it meant that Lydia was always genuine. She didn't understand ulterior motives and would never guess the plot or big surprise of a movie or book even if it was laid out in front of her. She didn't think about it, she just let it be what it was going to be and enjoyed the ride. Lydia's question about homework was probably true curiosity and not a disingenuous idea that she should be superficially friendly just to keep up a fantasy of a good relationship. It was what Elsa loved about Lydia, and that it also meant she could keep the woman content with simple subjects, coming off as a brainless teenager and not have to give elaborate explanations about anything she thought or did. Elsa had her reasons. She glanced at her cousin Goldie with a tight grin.

"I don't know," the older woman finally said, "probably when grandma is done cutting up the sandwich stuff."

"When's that going to be?"

"I don't know, go look and see." Jacquie huffed and Goldie laughed as the girl walked out of the room. Lydia gave the two older girls a quick smile and followed her daughter out. Alone with her cousin again Elsa fiddled with the weekend homework papers on her desk, glancing at the French words, feeling awkward. She had always been bad at re-engaging a conversation after it was interrupted or changed, especially if the conversation wasn't something she was terribly interested in. Goldie however, had no such qualms and after only a moment of reorganizing her thoughts with a 'where were we?' she started in again. This time Elsa tried to pay more attention, contributing more than she had before. She thought of it as a kind of payment, a give and take. She would engage in a topic she wasn't so much taken about now, that Goldie was enthusiastic about, so when later the topic had run itself dry she could bore Goldie with her own babbling. Elsa ended up enjoying the pointless babble much more than she anticipated; it always happened like this. She would be avoidant and detached at first, but as soon as she decided to relax and go with it she found it pleasant. At one point in the conversation Goldie begged Elsa to let her see her sketch book. Elsa had finally relented and anxiously sat by while her cousin flipped through them.

"These are all so good!" Goldie exclaimed, green eyes still glazed over, staring at all the details Elsa had lovingly put in, "now I know you say you don't have talent, that you got this good because you worked at it, but okay, you're like, sixteen. There's college kids who have been studying art for years and they don't compare to you. You have talent my friend." Elsa opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by an interrupting voice.

"Are you two going to come eat?" Grandpa stood in the doorway, resting a hand on his hip. He was a short, slim man and his skin was perpetually tanned. Tonight he was wearing a brown checkered shirt and dark blue tie, complete with tan slacks and loafers.

"Yes, of course," Elsa said.

"You guys must have lost track of time," his face read haste, "everyone else has already eaten," he gestured behind him with a thumb, "and grandma is putting away the sandwich stuff to put out the pies."

"What, really?" Goldie shook the mouse to the computer on the opposite side of the room from Elsa's and looked at the task bar, "Holy cow it's already eight."

"Time for food then," Elsa stood and stepped to the doorway to where her grandfather stood, placing an automatic hand on his shoulder. Just as automatically he reached up and squeezed her arm with affection. She smiled and dropped her hand when Goldie passed her, following. Grandfather broke away and headed towards the bathroom on the other side of the hall.

When Goldie and Elsa entered dining room which was adjacent to the common room and unhindered by walls, essentially making the two rooms one big room, everyone else was already engrossed in their own conversations. Jacquie was playing with her siblings now. She and the other children sat inside a ring formed by chairs, a sofa, and the adult family members all trying to talk over one another. Grandpa had re-entered the conversation immediately and was now wildly gesticulating at the others. Elsa filled her plate quickly and stood at the end of the table waiting for Goldie to make her picky decisions. As she stood gentle fingers touched her elbow and she looked down.

"Hello Elsa," Geri warmly smiled up at her from her sitting position on the couch.

"Hi Aunt Geri," she replied, trying to match in tone the warmth in her aunt's smile.

"Are you getting along okay?" Elsa nodded and drummed her fingers on the underside of her plate.

"I'm doing alright," she said not feeling as though she was telling an untruth. For all she had been through Elsa thought she was handling herself well. She didn't really have any point of reference to draw from to make that judgment call, but at least she wasn't an institutionalized emotional cripple.

"I'm glad to hear it." Geri's eyes flicked around Elsa's shoulder for a moment then settled on her face again, "get her to eat more than that," the woman nodded at Goldie. Elsa looked behind her for a second, seeing her cousin poking delicately at a dish of Jell-O casserole. Her plate had far too much empty space. A dorky half-grin planted itself on Elsa's lips as she turned back to Geri, entertained by the thought of beleaguering her cousin to consume more than just Jell-O casserole and bread.

"I'll do my best," she promised, voice laced with laughter.

"Where should we eat?" she heard Goldie ask at her other ear, cutting out any answer Geri would have given. "Um," Elsa looked back at her aunt but Geri had already returned to the ring of conversing adults. "Come on," she tilted her head to the side in a 'follow me' gesture and backtracked to the hall. A sliding glass door was placed just outside the kitchen which was positioned just around the corner of the hall behind a decorative stucco wall. Elsa yanked the glass door open and stepped into the night. It was cold, it was dark, it was quiet. It was invigorating. She took a deep breath of the crisp, chill, air appreciating the feeling it burned in her throat and lungs, the tang of salt and seaweed a familiar friend. Stars danced and reflected in her eyes as she looked up into the sky, the faint light streaking her ice blue irises with purple. She was so well acquainted with the yard she could have made it to the gazebo blindfolded. Once at the little structure both girls found spots near one another, facing out towards cliff that fell down to the beach and reached out to the Puget Sound. Elsa's grandparents owned the stretch of beach under the bramble and bush covered cliff. The view was gorgeous; to her left she could see the bright lights of Tacoma and Federal Way. To her right was a dark expanse of water and a thin, dimly lit shore line until in the distance she could just spot Three Tree Point, always lit up like a flashlight, sitting between Normandy Park and Burien. If she looked straight ahead, as she often did, she could see Vashon Island. She got the sense it was a quiet place, like Des Moines was, because it was very rarely lit up. The brightest light she saw from the island was usually the lighthouse, blinking so steadily on the shore. As she gazed out a seal barked and she smiled, imagining it was sitting on a buoy.

"Your mom said to eat more," Elsa quipped through the silence, having seen Goldie was already finished in her peripheral vision.

"Ugh, the doctor told me the same thing. Said I'm too underweight."

"You can have some of mine," Elsa grinned and grabbed her belly. Goldie rolled her eyes. Elsa chuckled and placed a piece of ham on her cousin's plate.

"Thanks," the word was blank and she shook her head, "I swear I'm not anorexic. I like food! It just doesn't take much to get me full."

"I wish I had that problem," Elsa snorted.

"Yeah well, you've had other things to worry about." Elsa wasn't sure how to respond to that so she just took a bite of her croissant sandwich and looked back out over the water. "You…know you can talk to me about those things…I may not remember Uncle Aleksander very well but, maybe that would make it easier."

Elsa could feel Goldie's eyes on her as she chewed, staring at the water in pensive silence. When it seemed she would not answer Goldie looked away, shifting herself uncomfortably. "I honestly don't remember anything either," she said at last, holding what remained of her sandwich, a deep frown marring her cheeks, "his face is gone, all I have are faint memories of color and emotion, no solid shape. Not even any particular phrase," she took another bite, chewed and swallowed, "and I don't know how to feel about it. When I think of my father…all I feel is detachment." It was a half lie, when Elsa thought about her father, what little she could recall, an emotion she didn't know what to call made her throat close, limbs tingle, an oily slickness spill down her spine mingled with a sense of flighty security. The emotions clashed so violently they often confused her. "My father isn't what," she stopped, looking for the right words, "haunts me." A woman's face became clear in her mind, along with it a hard clench of her stomach, a rock on her chest and clouding fear that made breathing become a conscious effort. Closing her eyes tight loud screaming voices flooded her mind. Flashbacks built and threatened to overwhelm. The voices got louder and Elsa visibly flinched. Her eyes snapped open again when a warm hand was placed on her arm. Green eyes stared at her, concerned.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to let you know I understand something happened. The others can pretend Uncle Aleksander isn't missing, and can gossip about how you're so much different than all of us…but I won't."

Bewilderment followed by keen affection had Elsa's arms wrapped around her cousin's shoulders, though despite the tenderness of the moment her belly fluttered with anxiety. Her past was not the only thing that set her so totally apart from her family. Her past that had her living in a dark fog of action and reaction without tact or thought for so many years, until something inside her had woken up four short months ago. It was the first fronds of self-awareness. Through the hug she glanced out at Vashon Island and thought of Anna. How would her family, so Christian, so conservative, take to her growing secret? Anxiety bit at her stomach again. How would Grandpa take it? Geri, Goldie, Jacquie, Aunt Melinda, Aunt Lydia? How much more black could the black sheep become? She clenched her fists and closed her eyes again, head resting on Goldie's shoulder. She knew if she allowed it, the anxiety could become a full blown panic attack, but she knew she would never let it if she could help it. Silently she worked to settle herself while her cousin finished the piece of ham she'd given her. After a couple minutes of internal screaming she was able to find herself in the fog again.

"Do they really gossip about me?" During her episode of internal duress Elsa had wrapped her arms around her stomach but had left her head resting on her cousin's shoulder.

"What?" Goldie was startled out of the silence.

"Do they talk about me? Really?"

"Of course, what did you think they all forgot you existed? You're part of the family, of course they talk about you. They all love you in their own weird ways."

"Oh…" Elsa had never considered to think that her family thought about her enough to bother talking about her at any length. The idea filled her with both trepidation and warmth. "What do they say?" She felt Goldie shrug.

"When they aren't going on about how reclusive you are, they're talking about the normal things. 'Oh Goldie does Elsa have a boyfriend yet?' or, 'do you know why she wears black all the time?' 'does she ever go out with friends?' which I know you do sometimes. Oh, oh! I remember last month some time, Lydia asking Grandpa what your favorite color is. Yeah…I dunno Els, just normal stuff."

"Wow." So she wasn't completely invisible to them after all. Part of her she knew she wasn't one hundred percent invisible to them as it sometimes seemed, but to know they thought about her without her being right in front of them as a constant reminder she existed did cause her to feel some awe. That's what normal families did though, right, talk about one another? She smiled then. It was nice, normal. She was part of something, not an outsider like she was at school. She belonged, even if they didn't know her secrets or understand her past. Feeling a little more at ease she snuggled up to Goldie even tighter. "You told her purple right?"

"Huh?"

"Lydia. You told her purple right? Or blue. Or both."

"No I told her pink," Goldie smirked when Elsa looked at her in disbelief, "I said blue actually."

"Pink," Elsa snorted, "gotta be kidding me. I can't believe it's A-" she stopped abruptly, quickly pretending like she got distracted by an itch to hide her slip up before continuing, "your favorite color."

"Hey, it can look good on things! Actually it looks good on just about everything."

"No."

"Yes huh!"

"Okay but no it doesn't."

"Yes, it does!"

"What. EVER." Elsa threw her arms up and let them fall limply to her sides. "Tell me more about that T.V show you were talking about earlier. What was it called?"

"Which one? Charmed or Teen Titans?"

"Uh…Charmed? Isn't that the one about the witches?"

"Yeah that's the one. Okay it's really great, so..." As Goldie droned on Elsa was lulled into a state of utter relaxation. She had no idea how much time has passed, and was so lost her own world she almost missed when Goldie stopped talking and shivered. It was then that she too realized the drop in temperature, her arms prickled with gooseflesh. She was just about to suggest going back inside when Uncle Theodore, Geri's husband, called from the open sliding glass door.

"Punzel!" he yelled, "come in, it's time to go home!"

"Be right there daddy!" she yelled back, "already though?" she said in quieter tones and looked around at the scenery as though it would tell her the time. Elsa was sad to hear the call, having thoroughly been enjoying their pointless banter. Goldie had tried to dig a little deeper than Elsa was used to and the reprieve of puerile chatting proved to be soothing rather than draining.

"Next time we'll have to play count the stars while jumping on the trampoline" Elsa was saying as Goldie was slipping her shoes on in the marble-floored foyer of the house.

"I can't believe we didn't get to that," her cousin returned with an air of disappointment, "you just let me go on and on about nothing."

Elsa flicked her hand dismissively, "But I had fun, so next time. I'll miss you." She meant it. She always did miss Goldie.

"I'll miss you too."

They hugged again, but this time it was shorter, a decidedly familiar 'see you soon' embrace. Elsa stood by as farewells were passed all around, giving her cousin one last demure wave as she vanished out the door.

"Goodnight Elsa," Geri said as she passed.

"Goodnight."

"See you later, kiddo."

"Bye bye Uncle Theo."

Once they were gone Elsa took stock of who was left but was surprised to find that no one else remained. Grandpa and Grandma had followed Geri and Theo out the door and were finishing the tail end of whatever it was they'd been talking about as the family shuffled into their vehicle. Elsa found herself alone in the house for a moment and decided now was the best time to retreat into her cave. Passing by the dinner table she grabbed another paper plate and flopped two pieces of chocolate crème pie onto it then vanished into the bowels of the house to enjoy her treat by herself, reading until the crack of dawn.


	5. Anna - With Friends like These

**Sorry again for the lack of Elsa/Anna interaction! And for this chapter being a little boring. I want to say I'll make up for it in chapter six but I think that one is going to be mildly frustrating too.  
****I'll make up for it all in chapter seven though, so stick with me! We're getting to the good stuff really soon, I promise!  
**-Danika

* * *

"This one goes here, that one...there," Anna spoke to herself, squinting her eyes at the mirror and grunting after a moment. She'd been trying to braid her hair for the past fifteen minutes in the way she'd seen Elsa's styled on camera. It was a cute hairstyle, what could she say? It was a lot, lot harder than it looked though and Anna was starting to wonder if her hair just wasn't thick enough for it. One more failed plait and she tore her fingers through the uneven twists. "Forget it!" she growled and quickly pulled her hair into customary pigtails then stood back, frowning. "Okay fine, one more try. But the pigtails this time," she said wagging her finger at her reflection then grabbed a clump of hair and began. Braiding her pigtails proved to be much simpler. "There!" She stood back again to admire her work, nodding at herself. Braids, who knew? They looked very cute. Next Anna applied a little foundation, mascara, and some gold-brown eye shadow. Grabbing her coat from her room she headed for the front door.

"Mom, Dad?" she said loudly, but evenly, "I'm going out with Kristoff, Merida and-"

"Merida?"

Anna jumped and whirled around. She hadn't been expecting her mother to be behind her, standing in the kitchen entranceway. For a moment there was awkward silence as Anna stood waiting for her mother to say something before realizing she already had said what she wanted to say.

"Oh! Yes, yes. Merida. She's a freshman too...um but she came from another district. Moved, I guess. S-sorry I should have mentioned her."

"That's fine, Anna. Just make sure you're not out getting in to trouble," the woman gave her daughter a little smile, "I'm just surprised you're not planning on the computer tonight."

Anna wasn't too sure she liked the look of that smile. Her mother was a rigid, old fashioned woman and Anna knew she wasn't overly fond of her using the computer so much, though she rarely spoke out against it. She did have to use the computer for homework quite often after all. Besides, Anna had friends she spent time with as well, as she was headed out the door to do now, which helped her case.

"I...yeah, I guess not tonight," she rubbed the hair behind her right ear, "no pressing homework or anything so." Or Elsa and I'd rather hang out with Merida and Kristoff than talk to my other internet friends tonight anyways. Of course if Elsa was going to be around tonight I would have told Kristoff I'd hang out with him tomorrow but hah, lucky me Elsa's got some family get together tonight so I'm all Kristoff's I guess.

"Anna" her mother's voice chimed, pulling the girl back into the here and now.

"Huh?"

"You're staring."

"I...wh...Oh, woops. I was just...thinking about what I'm going to do tonight."

"What _are_ you going to do tonight?" the tone was half suspicion, half curiosity. It wasn't a new or unexpected behavior but it could get a little tiring.

"Going to the pizza joint you know, talking, hanging out. Oh, I guess that means I won't be hungry for dinner. Sorry about that."

"Hmm," the woman leaned on the door frame to the kitchen, "it's fine. You should spend time with your friends."

Anna smiled, surprised. In the past her parents had been so strict she felt smothered. It really wasn't until recently that they'd let up on her. She almost felt like they were only dipping their toes in the water now because she was in high school. It used to be an enforced ritual to do homework immediately after school and was only allowed to go play with other kids once a week on Saturdays. Being able to skip out on dinner was a big thing, something, she berated herself, she really ought to have brought up a lot sooner than oh by the way I won't be around for this thing you guys put so much importance on, okay goodbye I'm out the door!

"Thanks mom, I'll see you later tonight then, and sorry again about dinner."

"Don't go getting into trouble now. See you tonight," Mother said, turning back the way she came. Anna waited for her to be completely gone before she turned to the door and ran out of it.

Kristoff met Anna halfway between their houses and together they walked to Merida's house, talking about the night ahead the whole while. When they reached their destination Anna stepped onto the porch and rapped on the door with a _thock-thock thockthock thock_. Before Anna had time to step back from the door it flew open and out dashed a half- naked child.

"HAMISH!" Merida screamed from the house, appearing in the doorway a moment later.

"Whoa," Kristoff said, "talk about your warm welcomes."

"Ooh, guys! Yoor here! My brother is tryna get away from bath time."

"Trying to get away, or got away?"

"Merida he's rolling in the dirt!" Anna pointed.

"OOH HAMISH!" Their Scottish friend stormed down the steps of her porch and grabbed her brother who wiggled and wailed as she carried him back into the house.

"I got the little escapist," Anna heard Merida say from inside, "but my friends are here mum, I'm going out now bye!" In thirty seconds flat Merida was out the door, grabbing Anna by the wrist and pulling her down the driveway.

"Come on, come on!" she said, obviously trying to put distance between herself and whatever was happening in the house as fast as she could.

"What the heck was going on in there!?" Anna asked as she ran along behind her friend, laughter in her tone.

"My brother's bath day, the wee devils. After that is etiquette lessons. I want tae git away from that."

"Etiquette lessons?" both Anna and Kristoff chimed, confused.

"Yes, you know like how to properly sit at a table and greet people and the like. My mother practically wants me to act like royalty. Och, she's always on about a lady doesnae do this, a lady doesnae do that," Merida put up a hand, making her thumb and fingers touch in a talking head motion, "it's exhausting."

Anna laughed, hitching her bag higher on her shoulder, "sounds like my parents too. Only without the royalty part. Ooor the etiquette lessons."

"My parents just want me to be myself," Kristoff said softly, his brows together.

"Maybe because yer a boy," Merida suggested with a shrug, "my brothers could get away with murder! I can't get away with anything!"

"Kristoff's parents are actually little people," Anna said, "and um," she looked up at her big blonde friend suddenly feeling like she might offend him in some way, "maybe they are like...okay with Kristoff being whoever because they're...you know, different. They probably get treated different or something, so they just...like.. want their son to be happy with himself...cuz.." she poked her two index fingers together self consciously, "you know, people are mean...I guess you'd understand that too huh Meri?" Anna laughed nervously and suddenly she felt a hand gently squeezing her shoulder and looked up to see Kristoff smiling.

"I think you're right, Anna," he said then turned to Merida and poked her in the stomach, "And I think your mom gives you etiquette lessons because you look like a red haystack that was put through a shredder."

"Yer bum's oot the window," Merida snorted, "ye bowfing." Anna and Kristoff looked at one another, neither of them having any idea what Merida had just said. Both shrugged and laughed while their spirited Scottish companion continued to walk, waving her hand for them to follow.

Much of the trip to the local pizza parlor was spent in raucous laughter and teasing, at one point Merida and Anna playfully danced with one another across a sidewalk in crazed zigzags until Anna tripped over her own ankles and was caught by Kristoff who was making profuse apologies to some strangers whom Anna had almost landed on. The trio were used to getting looks, stares and huffs of indignation mostly because the two girls were so high spirited and Kristoff, while calmer, would sometimes egg them on. When he was feeling particularly energetic he would sling his ukulele around and play a tune while they walked. People seemed to hate it.

Pizza parlor doors flew inward as the three teenagers came crashing in, all of them loudly finishing the notes to a song, "In Summmeeerrrr!" they sang and Anna reeled into laughter until one of the employees, not much older than themselves told them they would have to march right back out the door they just came in if they did not stop.

"Excuse us, sorry," Kristoff cleared his throat and put the ukulele behind his back.

"I suppose we were a wee bit loud," Merida giggled when the employee walked away. Her friends shrugged in unison.

"We should all order one pizza together," Anna suggested, "I'd like Italian sausage!"

"Hmm...and I like mushrooms,"

"Oh aye! An' ye need pineapple!"

"Pineapple?" Kristoff wrinkled his nose, "with mushrooms and sausage?"

"Okay okay, onions then."

"I like that!" Anna pointed at her friend then turned to the cashier who stood behind the counter, aloof and obviously bored with his job.

"One large pizza with mushrooms, onions and Italian sausages please! Extra sausage. Oh guys what do you think about extra sauce?"

"Naw! Too messy!"

Anna blew out a breath and looked at the cashier, "Well okay just the large pizza then and three drinks."

"That'll be 28.50," the man replied in a monotone after putting the information into the computer. Anna immediately began to fish in her pockets but before Anna could pull out her wallet Kristoff slapped ten dollars on the counter. Anna blinked and looked at Kristoff. Merida took the opportunity to pay for the rest. Briefly she thought about protesting. She could have paid for the whole thing if they'd let her, but of course they wouldn't. Merida's family was fairly wealthy and the fiery girl did tend to pick up the bill here and there. Kristoff was a different story because his family was not well off. That ten dollars probably wasn't chump change to him and Anna didn't want him to spend it on stupid pizza. It was too late now though.

"Thanks," said the cashier kid, voice still flat as he counted the cash and stuck it in the register, absently pushing a black plastic triangle with a white 18 printed on it at them. Merida snatched it and her cup and set off for the drink fountain.

"You didn't have to put that much in," Anna frowned at Kristoff as they grabbed their own cups. The boy shrugged.

"We all came out together, it's no problem." he bumped Anna with an elbow.

"I could have paid though," she said and crashed her cup into the drink fountain's ice dispenser, the cubes clanging loudly in the plastic cylinder. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kristoff shaking his head.

Laughter rolled around the table, the three friends unable to be quiet. Every so often when one of them would get a little too loud, another would hastily shush them only to laugh a moment later. Anna made faces as she ate her pizza, putting sausages up to her eyes pretending they were her own. Kristoff pretended the dripping cheese was his snot and proceeded to eat it. Merida regaled them a story of her first archery lesson as soon as the goofing off relaxed a little. She explained how she had used every ounce of strength she had to pull back the bow, her muscles failing her after only a moment. To her dismay she had the bow angled upwards which sent the arrow she had nocked flying directly heavenwards, which of course caused complete panic among her peers. Her telling was animated with hand gestures, wide facial expressions and an invisible bow that Anna and Kristoff where completely taken in. When Merida flicked her hand that held a slice of pizza she had just picked up it took them a moment to realize some of the cheese and toppings had flung off and landed in Anna's hair.

"An' we were all lookin up to the sky an' running around, waiting for it to- Anna! Yer hair!"

"Wait what?" Anna put her hands up to her head and was rewarded with a smear of marinara on her fingers.

"Oh my gosh," Kristoff put a hand across his mouth, shoulders shaking.

"Ye got...YE GOT PIZZA IN YER HAIR!" Merida hollered and laughed so hard she fell from her chair, Kristoff's baritone laughter following shortly. Anna took only a moment more to join in the laughter, wiping the greasy food from her bangs.

"You're disturbing our customers," a sharp voice rapped out through the din and all three looked up, tears in their eyes, "we have to ask you to leave." It was a stern looking woman whose clothing was more formal than the others, her dark brunette hair tied tightly into a bun.

"Oh, oh, man," Merida laughed, "it's awl me fault, flickin' pizza in hair and all."

"Look what you did Merida," Anna scolded, "you've gone and got us kicked out." Merida shrugged, gathering her feet underneath her to stand.

"Just a minute," Kristoff cut in, standing up and walking to the front counter to return a moment later with a pizza box. Haphazardly he shoved the remaining pieces inside it while the two girls downed the last of their drinks. The manager stared at them with impatient, disapproving brown eyes the whole while.

"Thank ye for the lovely pizza," the Scot inclined her head just so at the manager as they passed causing the woman to give her a grunt as she watched them leave.

* * *

Evening shadows were long, the sky a hazy red-orange streaked by pink clouds when the trio found themselves outside again. Excitement zipped around the three friends as they bumped into one another in a playful clumsy walk. Kristoff watched Anna as she moved, giving her a fake growl when she ran into him.

"Lets go to the park!" she suddenly said, looking at the other two and nodding at them energetically, not wishing to part ways with her friends just yet.

"I'm game," Kristoff twirled the pizza box.

"Och be careful, you'll smash the pizza," Merida jumped up to snatch the box from the boy but her diminutively short stature and his lifting it over his head made it so she couldn't grab it. Instead the fiery red head punched him in the ribs and grabbed Anna's elbow, "fine, lets go cause a rumpus in the park then."

Kristoff rolled his eyes and twirled the pizza box again, the pieces inside sliding around as he followed the girls. During the trip the pizza slowly vanished as all three picked at it as they walked. Anna had only one piece more, Merida had two. Kristoff found himself left with four pieces to eat. By the time the trio reached the park his stomach was cramping from being over fed. With a sour face he disposed of the pizza box in one of the park's garbage cans as they made their way to the center.

Night had begun to settle as they arrived, orange and yellow giving way to purple and blue, interspersed with small points of light. Anna flopped down on the grass putting her hands behind her head and Merida kneeled down beside her. Kristoff leaned against the tree to her right.

"Ahhh," Anna breathed deeply, looking up at the darkening sky, "guys can you believe it's only one more month until summer break? Year one of high school down, only three more to go."

"Bleh three whole years," Merida complained, rolling her eyes.

"Kids," Kristoff shook his head, "only two more years for me."

"Ah shut it you overgrown sortie," the Scot shot. Anna laughed and Kristoff rolled his eyes. Several long minutes of comfortable silence followed until the blonde boy repositioned himself against the tree with a loud sigh then cleared his throat. Merida studied him for a moment then looked at Anna and poked her cheek gently. "I'm away for a dauner," she said and stood again, taking a few steps away "dontcha worry, I'll be fine," she assured them before they could think to say anything to the contrary.

Anna looked up at her friend with mild surprise and confusion but scrunched her nose at her playfully once she picked up Merida's meaning, "Okay but if you're not back in...fifteen minutes at the most I'm going to comb this whole park for you," she warned and Merida just snorted and waved a dismissive hand at her as she walked off. Kristoff and Anna watched her go, her bright red curls visible from quite a distance. Merida was certainly recognizable to a point she was completely impossible to miss in a crowd. Anna rolled over onto her side, putting her hands underneath her head as Kristoff eased himself to the grass, pulling his ukulele around his shoulders, strumming a few notes.

"Thanks again for paying for so much of the pizza tonight," Anna said gently, her eyes half closed.

"It was nothing," the boy replied, "you look so pretty tonight I couldn't resist." Kristoff's cheeks burned beet red the moment he let the words slip out, stilling his hands on his instrument. Anna laughed softly and smacked his thigh.

"Stop teasing," she half grinned and pulled her hand back, replacing it under her head. Kristoff's mouth formed a small frown as he looked down at the girl. Anna could feel his eyes on her but she pretended not to notice it or the fact she heard him take several small breaths as though he was about to say something that died on his lips before sound could form. Several silent moments passed before he finally found his voice.

"You...actually do look really pretty tonight," the sound was laced with tentative nervousness, "I wasn't...joking."

Anna opened her eyes and sat up, looking at the boy kindly, "Thank you, then...but I'm not really sure what you want me to say," Anna put a hand in her hair playing with it habitually, "I mean just cuz...you know I don't get compliments very much."

The frown on Kristoff's face deepened, "I'm sorry about that, you'll be sure to receive more of them."

An awkward silence fell on the pair, Anna staring up at the night sky and Kristoff absently pulling at the grass. Several long minutes passed before Anna pushed herself up with a grunt and brushed off her skirt.

"Well I'd better go find out where Merida is so I can head home," she breathed and made to walk away with or without Kristoff, brushing a sleeve of her shirt.

"Anna wait," the boy called and pushed himself up, "I just.. I wanted to say... I.." He faltered and Anna stood stalk still. She really wasn't as oblivious as she made herself out to be, she knew what was coming next but wasn't sure how to react or what to do, or if she should stop Kristoff from even saying it. Timidly she looked at him, a frown lining her face as the boy looked for the words and had an internal struggle with himself. Anna realized that she too was having an internal struggle and quickly came to a decision to say something, anything, and opened her mouth.

"I lo- like you," Kristoff finally said at the precise moment Anna was going to speak, "Like, _like_ you. You know." Anna felt her stomach turn, her toes curling in frustration as the boy went on, "Since sixth grade I've had a thing for you, and...and I...I just want to be able to…show you," he stammered, brushing a hand through his blonde hair, messing it up. Anna stared for a while trying to formulate a response and control the inevitable word vomit. Kristoff began to fidget.

"I'm...I'm flattered," she began, "maybe it's your love for me that's allowed you to be such a wonderful friend," a half smile, "I don't want that to end. You're amazing. Like, a truly superb friend, and I love you too," she faltered, pulling at her shirt sleeves, "I just…um…I don't…love you in that way…" she bit her bottom lip nervously, glancing her eyes to the side, to the spot at the base of the tree trunk where Kristoff had been sitting moment before, "and it's not because of you or anything, like I said you're amazing!" Anna put her hands up in a gesture that was supposed to be reassuring, her eyes returning to his face and read his expression. He had a deep set frown, eyes pointing towards the ground with a slight wilting of his posture, "but I...I can't...love you back…like that." Anna swallowed hard, wringing her hands behind her back and looking down at her feet. Silence again, silence like a knife and Anna wanted to reach out and hug her friend, her knees twitched with the thought, the desire so strong, but she held it back knowing it would not be beneficial right now.

"Why," she heard Kristoff say in a strangled tone, "why can't you?"

Anna studied Kristoff's face for a moment, he seemed impassive, maybe almost angry and she dropped her gaze quickly, playing with one of her braids. She wanted to think his question unfair. She couldn't love him the way he wanted her to in the same capacity as she couldn't mix Coca-Cola with sprite because it just wasn't right. Maybe other people liked sprite and coke mixed together but... Anna broke from the train of thought, knowing it to be completely unrelated at this point, and possibly completely unrelated in the first place. She knew very well why she could never hand her heart over to Kristoff, though there'd been times in the last couple years she had entertained the idea, or even wanted to, moments where she'd knowingly hinted at him, or she'd played a little too intimately, but she'd come to understand what she was through some very furtive conversations with herself and calm reassurance in the past year from Merida. Anna swallowed again feeling a ball in her throat.

"Yo...you're my friend," she said quietly, giving Kristoff an imploring look. She was scared to tell him the truth, scared to tell anyone the truth, and the only reason Merida knew was because the Scot had come right out and told her that she was gay herself a month after they met, which made Anna feel comfortable enough to return the favor. "I just can't- wait!" she called as Kristoff turned away, "th-that's not... not what I mean. I mean of course friends can fall in love, and they do! I mean, hah, just look at Tiana and Naveen," she gestured as if they were standing beside her, "so...so that's not.. Kristoff you're wonderful, I couldn't ask for a better friend, or for a better person to fall in love with me, but I..." Anna chewed her lip, leaving teeth marks in it.

"You what? You're afraid of your parents?"

"No," _Yes, god yes. So much yes, I can't articulate how much yes, Kristoff. Just not because of you._

"You're afraid of commitment?"

"N..no, I-"

"You're afraid of what people will think? People already think we're together you know."

"No, Kristoff-"

"Wait wait wait, are you afraid Merida will tease you? I'd be kind of afraid of that too, she's pretty easy on you. I'd be afraid of her teasing me like she teases well...me, also..."

Part of Anna appreciated that the boy was trying to diffuse the situation, but another part of her was growing frustrated and he was only able to say a few more words before Anna closed her eyes and curled her hands into fists.

"No, I..I like someone else!" It was too loud, the words rang like the report of a gun, Anna's gaze frozen on Kristoff's face.

"Who?" He asked, suspicious and maybe a little angry.

"You...you know that girl I sometimes talk about...Elsa?"

"You're kidding."

Anna frowned, pulling at a shirt sleeve and adverting her eyes to the ground, "I'm not...I really really...really like her." The boy's expression dropped to uncomfortable disbelief and surprise before becoming a blank mask as he turned away again. "Kristoff, please," Anna tried to grab his arm but he had already walked out of reach, _Don't hate me, don't be angry, don't be disgusted, please don't think badly of me,_ Anna pleaded with him in her mind when the boy did not turn back

"I need to be alone," the voice sounded cold and Anna drew her hands to herself again, tears prickling at her eyes, "goodnight Anna," and this time when he walked away she did not try to stop him, instead she tried to stop her tears by squinting her eyes and turning away from the scene. _He hates me, he thinks I'm disgusting,_ Anna told herself, _that look in his eyes...on his face...what am I going to do? I..I don't want to lose him! He's my best friend... I wish I could just-_

A sudden hand was on Anna's arm, then another and she looked up at a familiar face, her own strained with unshed tears. "Anna, what happened?" Merida's voice was nothing but concern as her sky blue eyes searched Anna's teal ones. Without a thought Anna threw her arms around her friend with soft whimpers, tears flowing free for but a moment.

"He knows, I told him Merida," Anna cried into the Scot's shoulder, "He...he told me he loved me and I... I told him I couldn't. Not like that. And now he knows and he just walked away. His face...oh Merida his face," she closed her eyes, pushing away from the other girl and covered her face with her hands, breathing shaky.

"Oh lamb," Merida touched Anna's shoulder softly, "we knew it had to happen. I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"What if he hates me forever now?" Anna looked up from her hands and Merida wrapped an arm around her shoulder, shaking her head.

"Come now, ye know it's not in Kristoff's nature tae hate," she smiled gently, "and you know him better than I do! Och let's get ye home." Anna nodded and leaned in to her friend's comforting presence as they walked.

"Merida..." Anna said tentatively after a while, "what if he never wants to be friends again?" Merida was thoughtful for a moment, seeming to think up a response before giving a light shrug,

"I dinnae know, but he's a reason to be upset you know. He loves you, he wants to be with you, but now he knows he can't, and never will. Can't be easy. I'd be upset too. What would you think, if it was you that loved him, and he did not love you?"

Anna watched her feet as they walked, considering Merida's words._ If it had been me instead of Kristoff? I'd be very sad, I think my heart would hurt...it would probably be hard to be around him. Maybe, I don't know. But I do love him, I don't want him to go. I can't give him what he wants but oh god I wish I could... I guess I could pretend...but that wouldn't be fair to him because he would love me truly, and I would only be acting loving him in that way. And I would still have feelings for Elsa on top of it all. It would be wrong. I don't want him not to love me though. Oh God, I'm selfish._

"Sad." Anna finally said in reply and her friend nodded, passing her a gentle smile. The rest of the walk was carried in soft conversation, the topic just about anything Merida could think up, so by the time the two girls reached Anna's door, the braided redhead was feeling just better enough to smile. After goodbye hugs and Anna asking if Merida was safe to go home alone and being reassured, Anna unlocked her door, gave her friend one last wave and stepped inside.

Silence filled the house, the light from the moon filtering through the windows the only light source for Anna to navigate the obstacles in the house as she made her way to the hallway and flicked on the computer's monitor. It was late, much later than expected, the computer clock read 12:30am. Anna knew she'd hear about it in the morning but right now it didn't matter, silently she sat in the computer chair while MSN was working on logging her in. Once in a quick scan of her contacts told her that Elsa was not online. It was no surprise but Anna frowned anyway and clicked her name. An offline message would work for now, knowing Elsa would see it made Anna feel a little better.

_Sunstorm: Hey, I hope you had fun tonight. I've never had a big family party at my house, we usually go to my uncle's house. Its not very often though. Still! I hope it was great to see your cousins and such! What did you guys have for dinner? Kristoff, Merida and I went out for pizza but we got kicked out for being loud because Merida accidentally flicked cheese in my hair and we laughed so loud someone complained so the manager came and booted us. I guess we were being a little too wacko for them. Some people just don't know how to have fun right?_

_Sunstorm: It's so late though, my parents are going to ream me for not getting home before they went to bed. I keep telling them, this is why I need a cell phone! Some of the other kids in school have them and they look so useful. They say they're expensive though, so maybe that's why. I bet in a couple of years the technology will be more available so that it won't be so expensive, just like what happened with computers right?_

_Sunstorm: Err, anyway. I just wanted to say hi because it would be nice to see you right now, but obviously you're not here, which is totally okay. Kristoff and I got into a little argument, but it's fine! It'll work out, I just hope you had a good night. Okay, well. I'll see you tomorrow. Or today. Later today. Or maybe I'll be on when you get this, who knows right? Hahaha...anyway. See you soon. 3 3 3_

Sighing deeply Anna signed out and turned off the monitor again, feeling her heart thrum against her chest. Why was her pulse racing at the thought of telling Elsa what had happened tonight? Why did she omit the truth? Maybe it's just something I want to talk about when Elsa is actually around to respond...or.. Anna's heart beat harder, Maybe she doesn't have to know. It's not like we're dating or anything, and even if we were yeesh, would I even say anything then? Placing a hand to her head she tried to quiet her thoughts and slowly took herself to the end of the hall to her room, avoiding the spots on the floor that creaked and ever so gently shutting her bedroom door so the door handle wouldn't click. Without bothering to turn the light on she yanked off her clothes leaving her in just her underwear as per her normal sleepwear and quickly jumped into her bed, pulling the blankets almost over her head. After that the only sounds to be heard were a few stray sniffles, but after another hour those too silenced as Anna slept.


	6. Elsa - Awakenings

**To Shelley from the reviews, sure! Sounds like a fair enough trade. Hurry up and get your account back!**

To everyone else, enjoy chapter six and look forward to chapter seven!

* * *

The next week passed by with relative monotony, a repeating cycle every day. 5:30, wake up, 7:00 school, 12:30 lunch and hanging out with Adam and sometimes Nicky and Beth, 2:00 school is out, ride the bus home, work on homework, talk to Anna, sometimes webcam, and sometimes now, talk on the phone. Anna almost always left for the night around 8:00, after which Elsa would finish her homework and watch TV, or draw, or continue to chat with other online friends. Throughout the last week however, Elsa had found herself growing increasingly unfocused, easily getting distracted from her work by a movement or whispered conversation that was not meant for her. When she wasn't watching the other students, wondering vaguely what they were thinking about, she was drifting off into herself. Elsa twirled her pencil between her fingers as she watched one of the more popular girls half-heartedly doing her work, the girl's face a mask of boredom. Elsa decided that being popular was probably an intentional and vapid thing and had a short internal monologue about how one got to be popular. Again her focus shifted, this time finding the assignment handout she was supposed to be working on. She finished it quickly and inattentively then sat in silence until the lunch bell rang.

Alone at the lunch table Elsa picked at her food, pushing the unsavory looking lasagna noodles around on the plate, bored. For all of Elsa's usual behavior of seeking solitude she found herself wishing she had company. Sometimes she'd describe herself as a turtle, her shell was her home and when someone tried to get in she'd only shut tighter, but at other times she thought of herself as a rabbit, her room, the back yard, and the computer office her warren and school the outside world in which she'd venture into out of necessity and skitter away from as fast as she could. Carelessly she took a large mouthful of the somewhat bland cafeteria food, leaning her elbows on the table top. She was halfway through the bite when hand touched her shoulder followed immediately by a familiar voice.

"Heeeey! Sorry we're late," Adam announced as Elsa whipped around in shock, eyes wide and cheeks puffed from the food. Adam took one look at her and laughed while she indignantly chewed and swallowed then completely ignored him for the company he had brought.

"Belle!" she greeted, hastily wiping her bottom lip with a sleeve. The pretty brunette came forward with a gentle smile, then all at once the girl's delicate hands were on Adam's shoulder and she shoved him roughly causing him to stumble and startling him out of his merriment.

"There, I got him back for you," she grinned and Elsa rejoined with a small laugh.

"HEY!" Adam whined to which both girls gave scolding looks. "Fine, be that way, I'm going to get lunch." Adam made an exaggerated spin, which was very ungraceful for the large boots he was wearing, and stomped to the end of the short lunch line. The girls watch him go, both laughing as they returned to one another.

"What are you doing here?" Elsa asked just above a whisper when the laughter quieted, as though if someone heard them they might grab Belle by the ear and drag her off.

"I'm skipping fourth period, just for today. I wanted to spend time with Adam, and seeing you isn't so bad either," Belle winked and Elsa frowned.

"He begged you didn't he," she said in a deadpan causing the brunette's brown eyes to widen a little. "Yeah, I know him better than you think," Elsa shook her head as Belle rubbed her own shoulder.

"Well I do want to spend more time with him, but yes okay he did ask me to skip yesterday. Don't look so annoyed, it's not like he forced me to or anything. I thought you'd be happy to see me."

Elsa shrugged and looked at the lunch line. Adam was almost at the front now, the line was moving fast. "Well, it's not me jeopardizing my possible position as the valedictorian. And I am happy to see you."

"Which you could totally be if you wanted to you know. Adam has shown me your work when you give him your answer sheets and notes to help him. It's better than most seniors and you're only a sophomore."

"Thank you, Belle, really but no I don't think so. I actually put a lot of effort into those cheat sheets I make for him." Elsa didn't want to sound conceded, and she certainly didn't feel it, but she had lied about the effort she put into the cheat sheets. When she made cheat sheets for Adam she didn't worry about making the quality of her work less and without the stress of that she was able to simply work. If she were honest with herself making cheat sheets for Adam was a release. It was actually more strenuous to dumb her work down for the teachers, all because she had no desire for the award of valedictorian. Elsa had no pride in her work or abilities and truly hated being complimented on them. Often she thought of herself as not good enough, her work lacking, her abilities laughable. Just because she knew she could achieve valedictorian by no means meant she considered herself smarter or better than any of the other students. She just understood that she was different from most teenagers in that she was extraordinarily studious. However Elsa had a bad habit of getting hung up on minor details or mistakes and scrapping an entire project or idea if it wasn't exactly perfect to the lofty standards she set for herself. She didn't believe she actually deserved recognition for anything. She barely thought she deserved her family, and knew she didn't at all deserve Anna.

"Seriously though, you could. I should thank you for conceding the position to me." Elsa just looked at her and took a shy bite of her lunch, unsure how to respond. "Thank you," she managed and for a split second wondered if there would be an awkward silence.

"Well I brought this for you anyway," Belle said producing a cream colored, very thick paper back from her bag, obviously read once or twice before. It was customary for Belle to give books to her friends, the girl's favorite thing in the world was books. Lucky for her Elsa always reciprocated to books, even the big ones, so Belle tended to hand her the more complicated stories while, she had noticed, she gave people like Nicky and Beth simpler ones with a simpler vocabulary and writing styles. Elsa grabbed the book from the table and looked at it. Pillars of the Earth it read, by Ken Follett.

"Thank you," Elsa said between mouthfuls, for the third time in that conversation, "what's it about?"

"It's so good Elsa, it's about well, okay it's about a mason, a prior, a noble's daughter and the building of a cathedral. But that's only half the book. The second half of the book is a beautiful romance between the noble's daughter and a peasant boy. I could go on and on but it would ruin the story for you, so you just have to read it." Elsa opened her mouth to respond but Adam's voice cut her off.

"She really could go on and on, she's been talking about that dang book for the last couple weeks," he sat next to Belle with a grunt. She giggled gently and kissed his cheek.

"I'm so excited for you to read it, I think you're going to really enjoy it, Elsa."

"I'm sure I will. I enjoy most well written literature," she answered, her tone genuine.

"Okay okay. You two could talk about books until I'm in my grave. Elsa, tell me about the webcam man! It's been two weeks and you haven't said a word. Come on, does it at least work?"

Elsa was not at all surprised by Adam's curiosity. He wasn't known for his charitable nature and always wanted to know what became of the things he gave out when he gave them out. In truth Elsa had been flattered when he offered her his old webcam because the boy only gave things to people he loved and cared about. It had made her feel wanted and she was very grateful to him for it.

"It works, yes. It synced just fine with my computer." Elsa looked at her friend's face and found him searching hers as though he could pull more information from her with just his eyes. She controlled the smirk she felt and glanced at Belle who was politely listening, then looked back to the boy "I have been webcamming with my friend. It's working out well." She was being purposely vague.

"Yes! Good!" Adam cheered, "and? What does your friend look like? Boy? Girl? Tell me, come on," he urged, stuffing some lunch in his mouth.

Once again Elsa glanced from Adam to Belle before a sudden timidness came over her at the thought of actually talking about Anna and began to play with the fork on her empty tray. "Uh...well..." she hesitated, looking for her voice again, "She's a girl and her name is Anna."

"If you didn't immediately call her Anna Banana, that was an opportunity lost," Adam said around his mouthful and Belle swatted his arm, "whaaaat?" He complained, looking at her.

"That is the oldest nickname for a person named Anna, ever."

"Well it's not like it rhymes with much else," Adam eyed Elsa who was still playing with her utensils, "like, it doesn't rhyme with fork."

Elsa put the fork down and stared at her friend. "It rhymes with fauna. Anna fauna, fee fi fo llama, there are you happy?"

"Yes," the boy blinked, "yes that was the best, you must for now on use that."

"What is with you and nicknames? Do you want me to finish, because I'm happy to stop right where we are."

"Sassy," Adam leaned over to Belle and whispered, though too loudly, "this is why I call her Elsassa." The comment elicited a short laugh out of Belle who, a moment later gestured at Elsa to continue.

"Ignore him," she half smiled, "he's just in a good mood because I'm here."

"Too good of one."

"I can get mean if you'd like." The comment was meant to me light hearted, however the gravity of the truth behind it made Elsa turn her face away again, though she was careful to give him a slight grin. Her friend was usually fairly nice to be around but he really could have a severe temper. When she had met him in eighth grade, before Belle, Adam had almost been inapproachable. Elsa would have never initiated first contact, so when Adam came to her, though they'd never spoken, she was very shocked. He explained she was the only kid in the class who hadn't tried to mess with him in some way, and who had never flinched away from him when he walked by or spoke, and that he appreciated it. They began awkward and short conversations after that, but it didn't take overlong for a real friendship to bloom. When Adam met Belle later that year he began to smooth out even farther, learning to temper his frustrations to a dull roar. Still, he could lash out. He'd lashed out at Belle before though it didn't last long. Elsa had always been careful to never give him a reason to lash out at her. As quiet as she was, she too had a hidden temper. Allowing Adam to be angry with her, or her with him, would end poorly for the both of them. These days however were seeing a very spirited light hearted Adam it seemed, which was a good thing, but Elsa wasn't fool to forget that Adam could be a beast. Suddenly fingers snapped in front of her face, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Hello in there, come back to Earth," Adam chided and sat back down when Elsa looked at him, having stood up to reach across the table.

"What?"

"I said, what does Anna look like?"

"Oh..." Elsa could feel a faint heat in her belly in nervous trepidation. "Um. Slender but fit. Like she plays sports all the time or something. She has really pretty almond shaped blue eyes and an ado-... sloping little nose completely dusted with freckles. Her cheeks are covered in freckles too," Elsa couldn't help but grin as she visualized Anna, trying to explain what she saw. The heat in her belly was mounting and so was the blush on her cheeks, and that, she was absolutely positive was from her growing embarrassment, "And um...she has red hair, but it's a pretty light red. Kind of copper. Heh, she likes to style it in pigtails, but lately she's been putting braids in." Elsa grabbed the end of her pony tail, remembering the blonde streak she'd seen peeking out from the red in Anna's hair, much like the color of her own hair. "And she loves green so she's almost always wearing something with green on it. it's a good thing, she's really pretty in green. But…she's always really pretty because she wears girly clothes like you, Belle. Skirts, leggings, dresses, cute tops…she was wearing this one that was forest green with some Norwegian designs on it, bordered in black lace. Good Lord it was so-" Elsa stopped mid-sentence upon realization friends were watching her with rapt attention. Adam had a smirk on his face that made it seem like he was up to something and Belle had a calm smile with a look in her eyes that said she had suddenly understood something. Elsa raised an eyebrow at the pair. "What is it?" she asked suspiciously.

Adam snorted a little and leaned back, passing a glance at Belle.

"Nothing," he replied after he met the brunette's eyes, "nothing at all. I'm just happy the cam is working out for you."

"Well then," Belle broke in, "summer is only three weeks away, do you have any plans?" The remainder of lunch was carried out in conversation mostly between Belle and Adam as Elsa had not really made any plans for the summer. She assumed it was going to be like last summer, long days spent in a mostly silent house interspersed with periodic family gatherings and sporadic outings with the couple in front of her. Sometimes it would outings with Adam and Belle but most times just Adam, and very rarely Nicky would hang out with her on the beach. Mostly her days would be reading outside, sitting under the gazebo or on top of the trampoline. Or on the computer, probably more computer than anything else now that she thought about it. By and large her summer would be filled with sweet solitude. Elsa was just about to chime in on something Belle was saying when the lunch bell rang, signaling the end of the meal period.

"No, net yet! " Adam looked around at the other students who had already started to pack up, upset written on his face.

"It was really nice to see you," Belle said as Elsa slipped her bag on her shoulder, letting her addition to the previous conversation slide away.

"You too, and thank you again for the book," she replied, "and Adam, just skip your fourth period. Make it even, it's only fair." Adam looked up at Elsa from his sitting position, consternation on his face that quickly became a winning smile.

"When she's right, she's right!" he announced and leaned back on the table.

"Aren't I usually?" Elsa grinned, "See you guys later."

"Bye!" Belle waved and Adam just rolled his eyes.

* * *

Elsa deftly flicked her brush across her canvas, vibrant color spreading out from the bristles. Her class assignment class was to create a wilderness scene with contrasting light and shadow. Elsa had picked to reference photo of a jungle with a photographer standing under a tall tree. The photographer she sketched to be a woman, looking up into the leaves in wonderment. The leaves she embellished to be larger, more fantastical than the actual ones. The shadows in the painting would be deep and the light an almost jarring brightness in comparison. Elsa visualized the finished piece as she worked, putting the last details on a leave before moving to the half-finished woman. Grabbing a pencil she erased the woman's face and redrew it, softer, nose sloping elegantly, and jaw less angular. The hair she fixed from a wild mess to a more tamed look, drawing a braid across her shoulder. The edit took her almost half the class to finish already so quickly she grabbed a brush and dipped it in some paint and with agonizing delicacy began to add color to the woman's hair. Elsa always did hair before skin, she wasn't sure why. It was just her process.

"Very good complimentary choice," a female voice said over her shoulder and Elsa looked up at her teacher. "All that green and you give your subject red hair. She will stand out beautifully." Mrs. Cole nodded.

"You think it's really that nice?" Elsa blushed and fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Yes, so far so good. Keep it up, you're a very talented young artist. It's a bold move attempting realism within the fantastic realm that you seem taken with," Mrs. Cole's eyes roved the painting again, "but be careful not to be presumptuous. It is not without error." Elsa looked at her, perplexed.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice edged with annoyance.

"I mean that you may begin a piece, and as you work on it, it may seem to be coming together absolutely perfectly, every line exactly where you want it. Many artists begin to get cocky about their work then, and the final product suffers for it. Stay humble."

"I always thought it was the other way around…" Elsa responded, even more baffled than before, which added to her irritation. Mrs. Cole laughed.

"It can be, and often is. But that's the beauty of art. Art is about exploring yourself and the world around you through a canvas. You have to find what works for you, and more than that, accept your style. Every artist has his or her own unique style."

"Are you saying I'm…not in style?"

"No, just that this painting is taking a different tone than all your others. The light is far brighter than I've ever seen you paint before. Why are you suddenly painting so much more light? Think about it."

Mrs. Cole gave her a classic instructor's smile then paced down the line of students, glancing at their pieces as she passed. Eccentric woman, Elsa thought as she returned to her painting, critically gazing at it. It does have more light in it than I usually put though…but I want the woman to be visible. She reached out a hand, softly brushing the sketch of the woman. She had red hair, a sloping nose with big eyes that stood out to Elsa the most. It was definitely Anna, unintentionally Anna, she'd let her mind sail on autopilot while drawing and it had summoned Anna from her pencil tip. Elsa swallowed hard as sudden emotion clenched in her chest, white-knuckling her brush and pencil until it passed. Nervously she glanced at her table mates, hoping they'd missed the strange display. Thankfully they were too busy on their own pieces to bother with her oddities. She blinked slowly in relief then washed her brush out. The rest of the period was spent working on the leaves, jungle Anna's vibrant hair half painted.

The rest of the day was spent much the same way, avoiding thoughts of Anna, getting frustratingly, easily distracted, and quickly doing her assignments before her mind wandered again. At one point Elsa found herself talking to a neighbor, who was understandably unsure about it. Regardless of the other girl's hesitation Elsa kept the conversation going throughout the period, quieting when the teacher spoke and whispering again after, discreet enough that Mr. Calhoun scolded them only once. By the end of the class her neighbor, who Elsa had discovered was named Rose, had her being open and friendly.

"No, see" Rose said under her breath, pointing to a sketch she'd done. It was rough, not so good. Rose was not an artist, but it got the point across. Her finger was touching the hat that sat on top of the owl, "it was dancing around with a big coat on."

"That's so ridiculous," Elsa chuckled under her breath, "I wish my dreams were that funny."

"Sometimes I wish mine were more serious. My aunts think I'm just a silly girl."

Elsa snorted and looked up to the front of room, making sure the teacher was else while occupied. Even though the class only had a couple minutes left Mr. Calhoun could be a tight wad, but he was easy to evade. He didn't pay very good attention, and he was not paying attention now. "We're teenagers," she hissed, "we're supposed to be silly."

"Except you," Rose half grinned, "you're never silly."

"Oh no? You'd be surprised." Elsa stuck her tongue out at Rose just as the bell rang. Rose gave her a look that was both coy and cordial as she placed the sketch into a notebook and the notebook into her backpack. Elsa also gathered her things and put them away as Mr. Calhoun stood up again, reminding the class about the homework due at the end of the week. As soon as he was quiet Elsa stood and gave Rose a tiny wave.

"See you tomorrow," she said and left when Rose gave her an acknowledging nod.

Shifting her heavy messenger bag on her shoulders Elsa made her way to the buses. Several thoughts vied for a place in her consciousness at once. The first was what she was going to talk about with Anna today; the second that she still needed to talk to her grandparents about borrowing the car for her driving test, and the third was more of a feeling than a thought, her stomach igniting in flame as she thought about what it all could mean. After several more steps in which Elsa was lost in thought, her shoulder was shoved and she almost stumbled. A warm hand grabbed her, followed by a familiar laugh.

"Tell Anna 'Hi' for me," Adam winked at her as he brushed by, one of his hands accosted by the pretty Belle, who waved at her as she pulled Adam away down the line of buses. She watched them go, feeling a flower of flame in her stomach again when they parted with a kiss which made her drop her eyes in confusion.

On the ride home the music from her headphones faded into white noise, giving way to coursing thoughts. Why had she made the woman in her painting Anna? It hadn't been intentional at all; it just...came out that way. Adam and Belle had also been pompously knowing at lunch today. Elsa leaned her chin into her open palm with a grunt as she stared out the window, watching the city pass by. Every cycle of the bus' wheels brought her closer to home, which brought her closer to Anna. Excitement began to bubble inside her chest as each landmark was mentally ticked off when the bus passed it. The voice of the singer in her headphones morphed into Anna's voice as she recalled the first phone conversation she'd had with Anna. The copper haired girl had insisted on being the one that called and Elsa hadn't even allowed the phone to reach a second ring before she snatched it off its base and said a hasty hello, her hands fumbling and almost dropping the receiver. On the other end of the line Elsa heard a giggle followed by returning hello. Anna's voice was girly and bright, warm and genuine. Elsa stuttered and stumbled on words as she tried desperately to speak coherently, her stomach in knots. Anna patiently urged her with soft chuckles and "it's okay," each time Elsa stumbled and apologized, and Elsa herself would laugh when Anna rambled or stuttered, or spoke too fast and forgot the end of the sentence and instead ended it with a "wait what?" which seemed to be her catch phrase. Elsa's cheeks blossomed with red when she remembered Anna complimenting her on her mature sounding voice, saying that she always thought she herself sounded like a twelve year old girl imitating a bird. Elsa had been forced to object with all the decorum she could muster.

Fingers jabbed painfully into her arm and Elsa was thrust out of her reverie, glacier blue eyes darting to the offender while one hand yanked off her headphones.

"Yo, Blondie," a somewhat familiar black haired boy said brusquely, "it's our stop. You gettin' off or what?"

"Oh…oh yes," she scrambled up, nearly dropping her CD player but caught it awkwardly with her other hand, her elbow pressing hard against her bag, pinning it to her ribs. With a few fast movements she had the bag strap around her shoulder and followed the boy out of the bus, nodding to the driver as she passed by.

"Quit daydreaming so much," she heard the boy say as she stepped down from the bottom stair, the bus doors closing behind her, "that's like. The third time this week. Next time I'm just going to let you miss the damn stop." He snorted, "I'm not even sure why I bothered telling you today." He broke away from her then, heading in the opposite direction. She watched him for a second then spun on her heel, returning to her inner thoughts completely unperturbed by his little show.

All day she had been feeling a flower of flame blooming in her stomach, from the moment she woke up until now. It made her fingers twitch and her arms burn, as though she should be holding something that was not there to hold. She imagined for a moment she was Iskolde the dragon, flying free in search of it's missing something. Blue eyes stared up into a sky that mirrored their color, clouds languidly floating by, far, far up in the dome of the Earth. Wrapping arms around herself she continued walking as Anna's face hovered in her mind's eye. She felt her belly flip and clench as feelings of trepidation, excitement, confusion, longing, and adoration swirled within. For several steps she sloughed through the tangled emotions in her chest, denying the outcome she foresaw. It was illogical, dangerous, maybe even pathetic. Hands grasped her bag's strap, knuckles going bone white, teeth clenched as she forced herself to keep walking and looking forward. She didn't really know anything about Anna, and Anna didn't really know anything about her, but this wasn't at all the same flighty feelings she had when she had a crush on the popular Ariel last year. No, this was different, this was more intense, this was consuming her insides like a relentless, undeniable flame. Elsa blinked, returning from her stupor to see the ornate front door of her grandparent's rich house in front of her. As she studied its details, the gold painted border around the large, square glass panel that decorated the middle of the door, gold filigree winding its way around cloudy carved flowers inside the transparent material, she came to a resolution.

"Love," her voice was thin, unsure. A hand pushed through her bangs causing a piece to fall over her forehead, "I'm in love," her voice was stronger this time, but wavered just enough to betray her apprehension. All the extra light in the painting suddenly made sense. Anna was bringing light into her dark, foreboding forest of fear and shadow. Elsa swallowed and closed her eyes again. She needed to get inside, put her stuff down, settle into her room and think. Steeling herself so her grandparents wouldn't observe anything amiss she cautiously, quietly, opened the door and stepped into the marble foyer.

Grandpa sat on his rocking chair, one leg over the other, a Forbes magazine in hand. When the door clicked shut he looked up, peering over his spectacles.

"Oh Elsa," his voice was welcoming if not a little surprised. He looked quickly at the gold watch on his wrist and the instrument cleared up his misgivings. "I must be getting old, I didn't realize it was already this late." Elsa smiled at him, shifting her bag on her shoulder.

"Yep, it's 2:30."

"How was school?" the elder man placed the magazine on the ground beside him and stood, coming toward his grand daughter.

"Oh uh, it was fine. The art teacher liked my painting."

"I should think she would." Elsa lit up in a genuine smile at the comment. "Did you learn anything?" He put an arm out in an invitation for an embrace. The display of affection was somewhat rare but Elsa reciprocated anyway, wrapping one arm around her short grandfather's ribs.

"Yes," she returned, "we're learning about fractals in geometry right now."

"Whew, it's been a while since I thought about any of that," he said, pulling away from the hug.

"It's not as hard as I thought it would be," Elsa shrugged, taking a step back, "I'll give you my notes if you want a refresher," a half smirk tugged at her lips.

"You know, I might just take that offer," he surprised her, a warm soft laugh following. Elsa shook her head but kept her expression cordial as she took another few steps away, indicating her desire to go. "See you later honey," her grandfather said, laughter still in the undercurrents of his voice as he squeezed her shoulder before she could get much farther away.

"Okay," she answered with another smile before escaping into the bowels of the house that was her rabbit warren.

Carpet pressed between her bare toes as Elsa paced her bedroom, periodically running a hand through her hair. Her revelation had left her in the throes of misgiving. She felt a powerful compulsion to immediately tell Anna her discovery, but a cover was put on the flame, a fear of the idea that Anna would respond negatively. She didn't want to lose her friendship and was afraid of making herself so vulnerable to someone else, but the impulse to make Anna more than a friend was so strong and so sudden she felt she had been hit with a train and could not ignore it. If she tried to hide it Anna would undoubtedly notice. Elsa knew herself well enough to know that trying to hide it would make her withdraw and behave reticently in ways she'd never been with Anna. She had spent the last several years trying to shut out her prying family, and had for the most part succeeded. It meant she was very adept at closing the door on people she cared about.

You could get hurt again, but in an all new way this time. You could experience an all new reason to make you wish the world would just disappear. Still you let Anna in, just enough but more than anyone else. She doesn't know your past or anything beyond the normal details, but she's seen you at your best and seen you at your worst. Just last month she talked you through a panic attack after your mother called. She didn't ask why you were so messed up, she just talked you through it. Or that time last week when that dick Fenaris was boasting about how he thrills in making younger players cry and you about came unglued on him. You didn't look like any less of an asshole than him. Anna didn't run away then…If you told her…even if she didn't reciprocate she'd be graceful about it. Probably. Maybe.

Elsa sat on the edge of her bed, wringing her hands in her lap. "That would be almost worse than a flat out rejection," she said out loud, looking out the bedroom window. "But I have to tell her. I don't want to shut her out. Either way I'll lose her," her voice cracked and she swallowed, "but at least she'll know." The hands in her lap clenched tightly to her pelvis, eyes sliding shut as she worked up her resolve.

It doesn't have to be today. It can wait, it can wait a week, a month, a year… you could conceal it, try not to feel it, like you do with all your other problems. Pretend they don't really exist and shove them away. No, no then I would shove her away, too. You've said this three times now. My feelings are for her, about her, being around her would be impossible. I'm not that strong, not strong enough to stay. I would turn into the Ice Queen with her and she would never know why. She would give up on you, and you would pretend it didn't matter when really it matters so much. No, I can't give myself any time. I can't procrastinate on this, if I don't say it now I never will. Behind her doubts something flickered, a little light among the dark, a glimmer of hope. If she told Anna, maybe she wouldn't lose her at all. With a deep breath she reached for that glimmer, repeating the hope over and over in her head, grabbing onto it with all her will, making it her shield against the fear. If she held on to it, she wouldn't chicken out.

Hours ticked by, the evening arrived in the form of a cool breeze through the window, open just a crack, brushing the completed homework that lay at the end of Elsa's bed. Pulling her blanket over her bare feet against the chill, Elsa stared at the paperwork before her and reached out gingerly to place it in her various homework folders. So neat and orderly was her entire room, was her outward existence, such stark contrast her thoughts and feelings. When hunger gnawed at her belly she sought food, found leftovers and silently ate in the television room that lay just beyond the entrance foyer. After another hour of sitting on the couch, not having bothered to turn the TV on, she gathered her dishes and put them in the sink before slipping into the back yard. Anna, she thought sadly. Just her name brought up so many emotions and Elsa sat hard on the grass, holding her arms around herself as the brilliance of the sunset was turning to twilight. Jaw set she pushed the emotions down as she stared into the distance, the Olympic mountains framed in a sliver of orange and yellow, foreshadowed by Vashon Island, washed in blue and green. The scenery blanked her mind, a feeling of smallness and calm settling over her as it did so many times before when she felt confused, lost, or scared. She let it occupy her entire mind until the anxiety was gone.

"I'm sorry," she thought out loud and curled her arms around her knees, silent thereafter as night folded down around her.


	7. Anna - Young Love

**a/n Okay so I know this took me a while to get out, my life has suddenly gotten kind of busy. Furthermore, I'm crossing states to deal with a sudden and unforseen family death. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone trying to help stand my family back on its feet, as it were, after such a terrible loss. As always, be patient with me.**

We're finally getting to the good stuff though! I'm really looking forward to chapters 8 and 9, and I hope after reading this one you'll be as well!

**I need to go through this chapter with a fine-tooth comb still. I should have done that before I posted it, but I really wanted to post it before my trip. Apologies for the sloppiness!**

* * *

Uneasiness filled Anna's chest as she made her way home from school, hands crammed into her pockets, eyes watching her feet as she walked. Beside her was the other red-headed girl Merida, talking animatedly.

"Me horse just wouldn't jump the hurdle. I think he got spooked or something."

"You got a whip?" Anna asked automatically her voice sounding as robotic as her voice could get.

"I do, but whipping a spooked horse is daft."

"Yeah, that seems a little mean," Anna replied in the same distracted drone. Merida eyed her speculatively which deepened Anna's frown.

"What's the matter?" Merida asked, slipping her thumbs underneath the straps of her backpack to relieve the tension on her shoulders.

"I just…" Anna stopped walking and gave out a hard sigh, "Kristoff isn't…really hanging out with us as much, or really talking to me, either. It's been over a week now. I shouldn't have said a damn thing and just…"

"Hey," Merida placed her hand on her friend's shoulder, "you can't control what he does, all you can do is keep letting him know you care in your own little ways." Merida blinked and looked aside for a moment as though surprised, "huh," she said under her breath, "could use that'n in my own life," her hand slipped off Anna's shoulder and she took a step forward to prompt walking again. Anna stepped with her, a sad smile on her face.

"Elsa has been missing too. For three days. I hate this, I don't know what happened, anything could have. She could be dead and I wouldn't know!"

"I think it's a little hasty to assume she's dead."

"I know, but if she was in trouble or dead, I wouldn't know. I'd never know. And I really care about her, you know? She's been a daily part of my life for like… a year now, she's never missed a day without telling me she was going to be gone. I'm so worried and I miss her so much. It's crazy how you get so used to someone being there that when they're gone it feels like the entire world is shifted."

"Gosh and it's only been three days. Anna you know, sometimes things happen. I bet you anything she'll tell you what's happened as soon as she can."

"I know, I know, I know!" Anna groaned throwing her head back, "I shouldn't worry because it probably is nothing. I just...I feel a little hollow without her, which is crazy I know and it feels extra bad because Kristoff is gone, too. I can't imagine what life would be like if you weren't talking to me either."

"You'd make more friends, you're really good at making friends."

"And yet I hang out with you and Kris the most," Anna flashed a sarcastic grin at her friend, "I should start hanging out with Cindy and Ariel. Oh, oh I bet Ralph would be a kick in the pants to hang out with!"

"See," Merida said flatly "you might as well replace us right now."

"Pff, no one ever replaces anyone else," Anna waved her had dismissively, "you just move on to someone else because what's the point in being alone?"

"Good thing neither of us will ever be alone. Och well, I'll see ye later."

"Huh?" Anna looked at her surroundings and saw they were at Merida's street, "right, see you like, maybe tomorrow or something."

"We should plan a trip into Seattle some time soon," Merida suggested as though it were an afterthought. Anna let out a huff, running her fingers through the hair above her left ear.

"Yeah," she replied wistfully, "we should. Summer is two weeks off," her lips flickered with a momentary, tiny smile, "maybe then."

"Okay then," her friend responded cheerily, giving Anna's shoulder a little shove, "see you later, again." She waved and began to walk away.

"Bye!" Anna called, the previous dreamy quality gone from her voice, "I'll call you tomorrow!" she yelled and bounced away to walk the last two and a half blocks on her own.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad," Anna called out to the house letting her backpack slide off her shoulders and down one arm as she walked into the living room. Neither parent returned her greeting. "Mom, Dad?" she called again, and again was met with silence. She slung her bag onto the couch and went to the fridge for a snack. There she found a note posted for her. "Oh," she grabbed it as she read, "gone. For the night, date night. Back around eleven. That's late. Okay then." She tossed the note into the trash and pulled a Dr. Pepper from the fridge then made her way to the computer, flopping heavily into the chair while popping the top of her soda. It was Friday, her parents weren't home and she had nothing to do, assuming Elsa wasn't going to show up again tonight. Part of her felt like she should just get up and find herself at Merida's door, or maybe call Ariel and see if she could hang out, but a stronger part of her told her to remain where she was in hopes Elsa returned. Anna took a sip of her soda as she signed in to Blucadia and MSN. It only took seconds for someone to send her an IM through Blucadia's private messaging system. At least this someone was a person she considered a friend more or less and they'd do to pass the time.

Four hours and a complete role play later the clock at the corner of the screen read 7:00PM. Elsa still hadn't surfaced and Anna's interest in the conversations she was having was waning. She breathed in deeply and slouched on the desk, resting her head on her shoulder. She stayed that way for what felt like several minutes, ignoring the alternating _ba-bing_ of Blucadia and _ding-ding_ of MSN, thinking despondently to herself. Finally, a half an hour later she sat up ready to say goodnight to everyone and give up. She grabbed the computer mouse and stared her face into the monitor again only to have her breath catch and stomach clench.

_Iskolde: Um. Hey._

Anna blinked stupidly at the screen for a fraction of a second before her fingers were flying across her keyboard.

_Sunstorm: ISEY!_

_Sunstorm: Er, I mean Elsa!_

_Sunstorm: Where have you been!? I've been so worried._

_Sunstorm: No offline messages or anything, you just vanished and I thought, what if she's in trouble?_

_Sunstorm: Like hurt. Injured hurt._

_Sunstorm: Broken leg? Broken ribs? Sudden bout of pnemo...pne...whatever that one thing that acts like a cold but is totally way worse. _

_Sunstorm: Or... or even DEAD? Anything could have happened, so many scenarios ran through my mind you wouldn't believe it._

_Iskolde: Anna_

_Sunstorm: If you died I'd never know!_

_Sunstorm: Who in their right mind would think "my family member just died, better check to see if she had any online friends who would like to know!"_

Sunstorm: Because that's a totally ludicrous thing to even think would be a thought process for anyone, let alone hope for.

_Iskolde: Anna calm down_

_Sunstorm: What? No!_

_Sunstorm: I haven't seen you all week, not since Monday._

_Sunstorm: I demand to know where you've been!_

_Sunstorm: I was really worried._

_Sunstorm: And I really missed you._

_Iskolde: I took my driving test._

_Sunstorm: ...Okaay_

_Iskolde: I passed. I have a license now. No car, but a license._

_Sunstorm: That's very cool but it doesn't tell me why you've been missing all week._

_Iskolde: I'm sorry, I've just been busy I guess._

It took a minute for Anna to think up a reply. She felt indignant and annoyed at the deflective responses and had a sudden urge to tell Elsa how she felt and raised her hands once more to the keyboard only to still them again when a queasy fear bumped inside her. Another second passed before she could answer.

_Sunstorm: Fine._

_Iskolde: I'm sorry :/_

_Sunstorm: Next time you have to tell me when you're going to be gone. I don't care if that's ridiculous._

_Iskolde: Okay..._

_Iskolde: That's fine, I should have told you I was busy. I shouldn't disappear on you. I'm sorry._

_Sunstorm: Well. Okay then._

_Sunstorm: I'm still annoyed though._

An uncomfortable silence followed and Anna tugged at her red hair, frustrated.

_Sunstorm: What uh..._

_Sunstorm: What should we do?_

_Iskolde: I was thinking we could roleplay. I have an idea._

_Sunstorm: Ooh whar is it?_

_Sunstorm: What*_

_Iskolde: I'd rather show you._

_Sunstorm: Um Okay?_

_Iskolde: I found a private room in Blue a couple days ago. I'll summon you there._

_Sunstorm: Okay then._

Anna watched her screen on Blucadia totally mystified at Elsa's behavior. As soon as Elsa's summon came through she clicked to accept and was zipped into a small, digital room that looked like a mountain cave. Instead of flipping back to MSN to talk she used Blucadia's screen to communicate.

_Sunstorm: This is a really cool room! Where are we?_

_Iskolde: In a place called Wilde._

_Sunstorm: I heard of this place, it's a fairly new addition isn't it?_

_Iskolde: Yeah, it is. They made it mostly for feral roleplayers but everyone is welcome. We're inside a lockable cave in a desert region._

_Sunstorm: Okay! So is this where you're thinking Sun and Is went on their little trip?_

_Iskolde: Exactly :)_

_Iskolde: I'll post first. I'm also going to say Sunstorm is just adjacent to Iskolde._

_Sunstorm: Yaaay! I hate posting first, it's hard._

_Sunstorm: And okay, set up whatever you need with Sunny._

_Sunstorm shuts up and waits._

_Iskolde: Thank you :)_

**_Iskolde;_ **Sunlight glittered on the horizon framing tall sandstone monoliths in golden light. Giant pillars and columns of red rock sprouted from the equally red ground. Several stood over a thousand feet high, the landscape dotted with massive buttes that turned into a vast plateau. Sparse pines and sagebrush grew along the tops of the buttes, tiny brooks and streams flowing between the monolith pillars of rock. On top of one of these giants Iskolde sat, wings folded tight against her body, her white and blue scales a stark contrast to the red and gold scenery. She felt so out of place here in the heat of the desert, on the dry rocks where sandstorms were inevitable. It was so different from any other land she'd ever been to before, vastly different from her snow-covered home. But Sunstorm loved the heat, and the sun, and Iskolde could think of not better place to take the princess for her reprieve from her duties. Deep purple eyes watched as the bright dot of the sun dipped farther and farther down on the horizon then cast sideways to a not so distant pillar that stood just a little shorter than the one she sat on.

_**Iskolde;** _Keen eyes could just pick out the golden outline if the princess and she breathed in deeply, closing those eyes for a second while letting her frosty breath out. Gathering her courage Iskolde shifted to the edge of the rocky platform, purple membrane wings unfolding as she positioned herself for take off. Sharp claws grasped hard to the edge of the precipice as she lept from it, small bits of stone tearing away as she took to the air, wind billowing in her wings when she swooped them downwards. The air was so warm she hardly needed to flap as she rode an air thermal down to the adjacent cliff on which Sunstorm was curled. Light once more glinted off her scales as she flew making her skin sparkle flamboyantly. With surprising grace she landed beside the princess, her claws making only the slightest scrape as she approached.

_**Iskolde** _blew out another puff of frosty air as she looked at Sunstorm up close, the fading light casting deep shadows on the world making the remaining luminance that much more fantastic. Sunstorm looked elegant and wonderful and for a second Iskolde's courage slipped. But only for a second. "Sun," she spoke smoothly, bumping her nose against the other's shoulder, "it's beautiful here, isn't it? So warm, too." She swallowed hard and hid the action behind a claw, scratching at the scales on her neck, unable to find any more words for the moment.

_**Sunstorm** _was staring out at the beautiful scenery never having been in a desert before, or really anywhere but her own little kingdom before. And her kingdom was little, even by dragon standards, little and insignificant, but here she was now in the broad world away from it and every passing moment reminded her how small she was, how small her royal position ultimately was. How much she didn't care because Iskolde had brought her here and that's all that mattered right now. When the other dragon flew to be beside her Sun glanced one eye towards her visitor but smiled when her shoulder was bumped. "It's wonderful here. I never knew a place like this existed." She turned her head to look at her partner, "Thank you for bringing me here. It's amazing."

_**Iskolde** _smiled broadly and put a claw up to her face, beaked nose hiding behind her hand self consciously then composed herself again and shook her head in an animalistic manner. "You're welcome," was her only reply. She let a long moment of silence pass and the sun was completely hidden behind the red cliffs when she spoke again. "Sun I... I've been wanting to... I mean-" she stopped short and sighed hard, looking up into the sky just beginning to reveal stars and closed her eyes to steel herself. "I love you," she blurted out. She'd said it before, but it had always been taken in the way that friends say it, but this time it was different, so very different. "I love you in the way flowers love the spring, in the way the warmth of the sun lingers in the ground in summer nights. You...you fill a hole in me I didn't know I had, and give me a peace I didn't know I needed. I ran from my home land because of a derelict ruler, full of fear and loss and hate. You found me and taught me there is more to life than suffering, than lonliness, anger, fear and treachery. You shine light into the fearful shadows of my mind, you bring me hope where I've never had any before. How I feel for you is beyond simple passion, what I feel for you just is."

_**I****skolde:** _I love you, Anna.

Anna found herself getting giddy as she read Elsa's post, her stomach dropping and turning as she giggled. The words were so beautiful, Iskolde's long awaited love confession was written so ardently it was almost like it was real. Anna's eyes flicked down to Elsa's final message and clapped a hand over he mouth. Her insides turned to ice and momentarily forgot to breathe. When she could at last breathe once more she felt her heart hammering in her chest as blood rushed to her ears causing all other sounds to mute leaving her with only the drumming in her head. Those beautiful, perfect words were meant for her. Those wonderful sentiments where directed at her, not at Sunstorm, but Anna herself. She felt a wetness on her hand and she looked down, startled, as the tear made a wet line down one of her fingers. For the first time in her life she was crying out of joy. Her chest got warm then, the heat of new love spreading through her being like wildfire, exposing every inch of herself, shedding light in places she didn't know needed it.

Bringing trembling fingers to her keyboard she typed out several words then quickly deleted them, swept up by an impulse. She pushed herself out from the computer desk and raced to the living to grab the cordless phone. After she had it she sprinted to her room and viciously flipped through the papers in her desk until Elsa's number was revealed, written in the middle of a purple Mead notebook. Anna's hands still trembled as she dialed the number and pressed the phone to her ear. Nerves had her bouncing on her toes and she took several long breaths as three rings went by unanswered. The fourth ring was interrupted with the quiet crackle of someone picking up.

"Hello?" An elderly woman's voice carried through the line.

"Yes, oh, hello. Um, I'm calling for Elsa, I'm um. Her friend." Anna wiped at her brow.

"Just a minute." On the other end Anna could hear the muffled sounds of Elsa's grandmother yelling for her to answer the phone. Momentary silence was broken by more voices with some added shuffling. Anna chewed her lip and sat down.

"Hello?" Anna shot up again when she heard Elsa's confused voice.

"Hi!"

"Wh…Anna, what?" Gosh it was so convient that her grandparents hadn't upgraded their phones to have caller ID yet.

"Say it to me."

"What?"

"Say it to me, Elsa. If you mean it."

"Just…just a minute." More shuffling and what sounded like a door closing. "Hi, sorry, I had to go…somewhere private."

"That's fine, probably better. Now…tell me. Please."

"I…" Anna could practically hear Elsa fighting with herself. She wanted to be patient and gentle but she was feeling so impatient right now. She began to pace through Elsa's silence, wishing she could yell.

"I love you," came Elsa's voice at last, at first tentative, "I love you, Anna."

Every joint in Anna's body became watery and she was forced to sit. A tiny laugh broke from her throat and she ran a hand down her face.

"I love you too, Elsa." No response, just silence. "Els-" she quieted after the first syllable having heard soft sniffles from the other end. Anna's impatience drained out of her and she held the phone with both hands as though it were Elsa herself. "Hey," she said gently, "is...are you okay?" Elsa responded with a whimper. "I..I'm sorry, is...is it too much I like you, too? I just...I do, I don't mean to put you out or anything...um.." Anna rubbed the back of her head, "You're just, you're so..."

"Anna," Elsa spoke at last, "don't be sorry. It's more than fine," a huffed laugh, "No I just. I was just so sure you didn't feel the same." Anna could hear the strain of admission in the other girl's voice and laughed nervously to herself.

"Well I do, really. I think you're wonderful." Anna sighed heavily and flopped into the couch as Elsa's giggle rang through the phone. "Ugh though I am so glad that is out of the way," she said enthusiastically, "seriously I think I was becoming a hot air balloon and every time we talked it was like, just more gas, or flame or something."

"Oh no, does that mean you were going to float away?"

"What? No, oh. No no, more like explode or something. I'm not good at metaphores, you know that."

"I think you mean a regular helium balloon then," Elsa laughed.

"Whatever kind of balloon that explodes. Maybe a bomb would be a better example."

"Oh, Anna," Elsa was laughing again, "I'm so glad, too. I don't even know what to say."

"Just tell me it's totally not weird."

"Weird," the word came out sounding pensive, "actually you know? It kind of is."

"Oh no, don't say that. Come on, we just had a great confession moment!"

"What? I'm sorry I'm confused."

"It's because I'm a girl, isn't it?"

"Wh...no, no! No, it isn't that."

"So you are totally a muff diver then?"

"Muff?"

"It's a slang term for lesbian though…I'm pretty sure 'muff' refers to uh. You know."

"Oh…oh…OH! Wow um, okay...ahem. I uh, I'm pretty sure I am? I...I mean I've never...had feelings for boys...not in the same way I have felt uh... um. F-for you. B-but I haven't dove into any muffs." Elsa's voice dropped several pitches hitting something just above a whisper. Anna stopped herself from laughing, curling her toes and torso in the effort. Elsa was getting flustered now, after just having the balls to say 'I love you', now she couldn't even say she had stronger feelings than she had ever had for boys or that she was virginal lesbian? Or maybe it was totally embarrassment at the word "muff."Anna swallowed a laugh.

"Okay, good because I totally found out I have a thing for girls too, like. Last year. Only two people know so far."

"Two more than me."

"Okay okay, okay, so if it's not weird that I'm a girl, then what is it? What's weird then?" Elsa hesitated on the other line. Anna could hear another door closing followed by the unmistakable sound of wind.

"That we live...well I don't know, I don't even know where you live, you're so nefarious about it, and that we met online. I've never seen your face up close. That's weird. Weird that I'd have feelings for someone that I don't even really know, and who doesn't really know me. I could turn out to be anybody."

"Wow," Anna felt deflated, her shoulders slumping, "well when you put it that way...heh..." she shrugged weakly and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "but, but it's okay. We can just tell each other everything. Then there will be no surprises. Even the little things like how many blankets and pillows you like when you sleep, what your favorite sandwiches are. We can learn. I don't think other people really know each other either when they start dating. Now that you know I like you, and I know you like me we get to like...learn one another in a whole new way, not just as regular internet friends. Yeah? And...and you aren't anybody. You're Elsa." _Boy that didn't sound as good when it was coming out. Maybe I should have just shut up. Oh whatever Anna, when can you ever shut up?_

"I'll do my best."

Anna leapt up from the couch clutching the phone tightly to her ear, "Really? Because I really want to learn all about you." She could hear Elsa giggling again.

"Yes, I promise I'll do my best."

"Sooo...does that mean...you're my girlfriend?"

"Are you mine?"

"Definitely. No question about it."

"Then yes, yes I am."

"EEEEE!" Anna jumped up and down, "oh my gosh oh my gosh, I am so happy right now! I can't believe this is happening! Oh. My. God, I just want to ask you like, everything right now!"

"Oh please, go gentle on me. It's my first time."

"Wait what?" Anna thought for a minute then burst into laughter, Elsa's laughter echoing her's, "You...you really just! Anime'd me!"

"Anna-chaaaaaan," Elsa whined over the phone in an obnoxiously high pitched voice. Anna laughed harder causing her to struggle to catch her breath.

"Never," she gasped, "never go anime again oh my god Elsa, no."

"I'm not even sorry."

Anna chuckled again and tucked her hair behind her ear once more. "Um, so what is your favorite kind of sandwich anyway?"

"Tuna, tuna for sure. I like them best when they're basically a grilled cheese with tuna on it."

"That sounds...really fab actually. I really like those spicy Italian ones from Subway. Oh but turkey is so good too!"

"I like both of those."

"Your turn."

"Waaait, are we playing twenty questions?"

"Mmmmmaybe." Elsa sighed.

"Aaauugh, fine. What's your...favorite subject in school."

"Uh, P.E, come on. Isn't that everyone's favorite?"

"No..."

"What's your's then?"

"Math and art."

"What?! Really!? Actually on second thought that makes a little bit of sense. You are usually Ms. Logic, so. Your turn again."

"Uh... your favorite season?"

"Summer! And it's so close Elsa, I can feel it in my blood! I am so ready to break out the sun tan oil and hit the beach!"

"Cute."

"Yours?"

"Winter, I love the snow. When...when I was little my dad and I used to make snowmen together. That is, when it snows in Washington," Elsa laughed without humor, "when I was like, seven there was this huge snow storm. It was probably six inches of snow. Dad and I built a squirrel made of snow in Grandma and Grandpa's back yard. It was as tall as him."

"And you call me cute. I would adore to build a snowman with you. Or squirrel. Next time it snows!"

"Yeah, heh," another humorless, dry laugh, "that would be pretty great."

"My turn. Okay let me think...oh! It's almost your birthday! What's your address?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your address, I'm sending you a present. No arguments!"

"I don't even know where you live and you want my address?"

"Ouch! It's just a gift."

"Nope."

"Elsa!"

"Which island? You have to tell which island at least, or I don't give you my address." Anna felt sweat prickle on her neck. Telling Elsa where she lived could change just about everything when everything was just beginning that night. She chewed on her knuckle and took a deep breath.

"I live on...Manhattan..." Anna winced.

"Manhattan...like New York?"

"Y...yeah."

"That's so far away...wow. That's the other side of the country entirely. Ooooh my gosh what about the long distance charges? Aren't they too much?"

"No no, it's fine really! My parents have this plan, thing. Where long distance isn't a problem."

"Is that why you always want to call me instead of me calling you?"

"Exactly!" Anna laughed with relief, "because if I didn't call you, and you called me it would be way expensive and your grandparents would like, throw a fit or something!"

"You forget my grandpa owns his own business and it isn't exactly tiny. Not big either, but. Moderate. We could pay for it."

"R...right. But we can leave it like this for now. Now, your address please."

"Alright alright. It's 376936 South 230th street, Des Moines Washington, 98198." Quickly Anna jotted it down on a post it note next to the computer monitor then stuffed it in her pocket.

"Thaaank you, be expecting a package around your birthday."

"Oh boy."

"I'm going to get you a huge, pink, stuffed rabbit."

"Please don't."

"Come on, it'll have a little pink nose, fluffy soft fur, and it'll be so big it'll be like I'm there!"

"Why a bunny?"

"I dunno. What about a goose?"

"Why…a goose…? That's really random."

"Stick in the mud."

"I'm still digesting that you live across the country."

"What? ..Oh, right…heh yeah. It's pretty far isn't it?"

"Really really far." Anna could hear the despair in Elsa's voice and felt her heart throb.

"It'll be fine though. Just you watch."

"I'll be watching intently."

"Good, because I love you."

Elsa made a groaning noise followed by a wet chuckle, "I love you too."

With a smile Anna retreated into her room and curled on her bed, pressing the phone into her ear as she resumed their game of twenty questions. Time was lost when she talked to Elsa, an hour felt like a minute and sometimes a minute could feel like a day. Anna allowed Elsa's voice to infect her, sooth her. The revelation of their affections for one another made Anna realize never felt more comfortable or happy, that the entire world had suddenly taken on new meaning, but all days must end and the sound of the front door closing broke the spell.

"Ahh my parents are home," Anna breathed into the phone.

"How late is it there?"

"It's ele-" Anna stopped and thought. She never had to explain time before and realized then that she would probably do a lot more of it before the school year was out. Elsa was really smart and would probably figure out some of her time inconsistencies. However Anna had a friend that lived in New York so she knew they were about three hours ahead of Washington, "Uh," she stammered, "It's um 2am. Haha yea, it's really late."

"Wow, so it's like always really late for you when you leave. When you leave at 8 my time it's 11 your time."

"Yep, that um. That it is. I really need to go though. I'll talk to you tomorrow though? Or later today."

"Yes, yes for sure. Goodnight, Anna. I…I,"

"I love you too, Elsa. Goodnight."

"Yes," Elsa sighed heavily, "I love you. See you tomorrow." Anna heard the line go dead and pulled the phone away from her ear. Fear slammed into her gut like a fist so suddenly she almost yelled. Instead she contained herself and threw her blankets off her feet, scrambled out of her bedroom and to the computer. Her parents were in their bedroom putting things down after their night out and hadn't done any snooping yet. With all the haste she knew Anna closed her programs and turned off the computer then rushed to the living room and replaced the phone on its base. Exhaling a relieved breath Anna made her way to the bathroom so by the time her parents emerged from their room she was brushing her teeth.

"Hello Honey," her father said. Anna nodded at him through a mouth full of toothpaste suds. "Going to bed?" She nodded again. "Alright, well. I hope you had fun tonight." She spat out the toothpaste, speaking quickly as she lowered her head to the sink to rinse.

"You too, Dad." He came forward and placed a fond hand on Anna's shoulder briefly before heading towards the living room. Anna finished getting ready for bed quickly and slipped once more into her bedroom where she sat on her bed, mind abuzz with thoughts.

* * *

"What's the big deal?" Merida asked, watching Anna bounce up and down and walk in circles around her room, "why are you so excited? Come on, spit it out." Anna did a little dance on her toes looking all too energetic.

"We're official!" She almost screeched, giving an even bigger bounce.

"Who? Wha…?"

"Me and Elsa!"

"No way."

"Yes, yes oh my god okay she told me last night. So, she was gone for like three days like I said and she didn't really say why but then she's like hey let's role-play I've got an idea, right?"

"Uh-huh?"

"So we were role-playing the love confession between our characters we've been building up for, for like, forever okay and oh my god I wish I had printed it out, it was such a gorgeous post. By far the most beautiful post Elsa has ever written, and the confession, ugh! So gorgeous! And then, at the end of it she says out of character that she loves me and I was like, WAIT was that whole thing for BOTH of the mes? Sunstorm me and me, me?"

"So….it was?"

"YES! IT WAS! I couldn't even respond! I just. I grabbed the phone and I called her and I was like "SAY IT TO MY FACE" and Merida she did, SHE SAID IT. ON THE PHONE. THAT SHE LOVED ME. And I asked if that made us officially a couple and she said yes! I can't believe it!" Anna slapped her hands on the top of her head and spun around in a circle ungracefully.

"Wow. That's really incredible. Fate has a way of playing out doesn't it?"

"Fate, destiny, whatever. All I know is that we're totally in love."

"Maybe I should join you guys, maybe I would find a girlfriend, too."

"I thought you didn't really care about that."

"I don't. I just like eye-candy." Merida flashed a grin then grabbed Anna and pulled her into a tight hug. "But I'm so happy for you," she said as she broke away from the embrace.

"Thanks! This is so great." Anna breathed out a happy sigh and flopped bodily onto Merida's bed, legs hanging off the edge. "She's so awesome. I didn't even know hair could get that blonde. I was sure it was bleached at first but she told me it's not. Oof!" Anna grabbed for the item Merida threw on her belly and produced an xbox controller.

"We're playing Halo."

"Alright! Awesome! Co-op or Slayer?"

"Slayer of course."

"Let's lose this thing." Merida shook her head and rolled her eyes as Anna set her Spartan up. Three matches and a plate of pizza pockets later the girls were sprawled out Merida's bed, their attention drifting from the game. They had lost two of the matches and the third was won only because two other team members were extraordinarily good. Anna flicked her joystick as the server looked for people for their fourth match.

"Oh yeah, Anna guess what?" Merida perked up, suddenly remembering something.

"Hmm?"

"I'm spending the first two weeks of summer in Seattle. Or, near it. My dad's best friend is trying to start up some kind of summer camp and wants me to come check it out. I'll be staying with him. Just found out today. "

"That sounds fun."

"Yeah what I mean is, you should ask your parents if you can come."

"For two weeks? Maybe a night or two, but two weeks? I doubt they'd go for that."

"Oh come on just ask, you know you want to." It was true, the prospect sounded hugely delightful. And maybe... Anna bit her lip, ignoring the game that had just begun.

"Okay, yes I'll ask. My parents will want to meet you and your dad and will probably want a phone number where they can talk to me, and probably your dad's friend too, plus they'll want a whole itinerary."

"Och they sound like me mum. Sure sure, no problem. Actually..." Merida leaned over from her gaming chair to rummage through some papers on her dresser. "Aha! Here," she handed a folded brochure to Anna, "they made a little info pamphlet of the activities planned. Give it to your parents." Anna flipped it open. "See? We'll be camping out in the Cascades for the first week, and we'll have horses and everything. The second week we'll spend at the lodge. Actually Oaken lives there, but he's added extensions onto his property. Cabins and stuff."

"How big is his property?"

"Huge. It's out in Bonney Lake."

"How far is that from Seattle?"

"Uh...like an hour maybe? From Des Moines it's more like a half hour. Ish." Anna nodded silently, setting the pamphlet aside and looking back at the tv. The match was almost finished but she picked up her controller again anyway and melee killed an unsuspecting passing enemy with a stroke of complete luck.

"Ooooh good one!" Merida picked up her controller also. Another two matches were played out mostly in silence, Anna's lip chewing becoming more frequent. She groaned as she was taken out again with increasing restlessness.

"I really want to go," she blurted out.

"Aye, good."

"No, I really really want to go."

"Aye?" Merida gave her a quick side-glance.

"Um... Well, you see...Elsa lives in Des Moines."

"Ooh," her friend grinned, "what do you want to do about it then?"

"I can't tell my parents about her yet. They wouldn't get it, but I want to visit her, even for just like...a day. Or something."

"We're going to Oaken's lodge on the 27th, then heading to the mountains the next morning. We'll be in the mountains until the afternoon on the 5th, then we're going back to the lodge for the last week, as I said. Soo...it's up to you. You can visit her for a day while we're at the lodge or you can skip the camping and stay with her for a week." Merida looked fully at Anna, "Assuming she's got room."

"You're serious? I could do that?"

"Sure, why not? Oaken doesn't know you. I could just tell him you're my friend, which isn't a lie, but that you're coming late."

"Which...would also be true. What about my parents?"

"I dunno, what about them?"

"They'll still want to talk to your dad and get Oaken's phone number."

"Both doable, but the first week we'll be unreachable, out in the mountains and all."

"Yeah but what if they want to talk to Oaken before we leave? Won't your dad-"

"Hey, lass, let me worry about my parents. My dad will talk to your parents no problem. Don't worry, I got him wrapped around my finger," she smiled and wiggled her pinky in the air, "now me mum...well, I'll figure that out."

"You'd really do all that for me?"

"Sure, but not until I know you can get to Elsa's place. Are you going to tell her you're coming?"

"Uuhh... I don't... know... I kind of want it to be a surprise."

"Risky risky. Ye could get turned out."

"I don't think Elsa would ever do that to me!"

"Well," Merida leaned back in her chair, watching the scoreboard pop up, "you've got one more week to figure it out."

"I'm totally going to tell them tonight about it. I'll probably ask you to come to my place tomorrow then. Bring your dad."

"No time to waste eh?"

"Not when I'm this excited. Merida, this is sounding plausible, I can't believe it. This is amazing."

"Don't get too excited yet. Me mum could wreck it all, but hey!" Merida leaned over and gave Anna a slap on the back, "Doncha worry my wee choogie, I've pulled her over to my side before. I can do it again." The Xbox controller slipped out of Anna's hands as she stared at her friend, eyes going watery. With an abrupt movement she flipped her legs off the bed and wrapped her arms around her friend's shoulders.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much." Merida patted Anna's arm, laughing gently, "you're the best friend a best friend could ever be, and I have no idea how I got so lucky."

"Aye aye, go sit back down ye lug."

Anna squeezed Merida again then sat hard on the floor, the game completely forgotten. "I wish Kristoff was here, too. I wish...he didn't have any feelings for me like that."

"You're hard not to fall in love with," Merida winked. Anna looked up at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If I didn't look at you like my sister, well," the curly haired girl shrugged, "you know."

"What is it, flatter each other day?" Anna shoved Merida's knee. Footsteps in the hallway made both girls look towards the closed bedroom door.

"Girls," Elinor, Merida's mother, chimed as she opened the door, "come on now, lunch and then harp lessons." Anna blinked up at Merida who groaned and slouched deeply in her chair. "Now now, none of that. Anna, dear, join us for lessons. It's a very ladylick instrument to learn to play."

"Uuugh mom! I don't care about being a lady!"

"Be that as it may, I care and I'm your mother so for now what I say goes. Now, come downstairs and get some lunch. No more pizza pockets." Elinor walked away with a flounce, leaving the door open behind her. Anna stood and raised her hands over her head, stretching while Merida turned the Xbox off mumbling to herself.

"Harp lessons," Anna's voice quavered with mirth, slapping a hand over her mouth when Merida shot her a testy look.

"Go on," the Scottish girl prompted, shooing her friend out the door. Anna playfully shuffled out, clutching the pamphlet in her hands.

Two harps stood on the wood floor of the living room, Elinor fussing over one of them. She flicked one of the strings and an off-key note played out. Muttering annoyedly she attempted to tune it once more, plucking the string several more times while adjusting the tuning knobs but only succeeding in making the string go even farther out of tune. The woman was no master at the harp and Anna giggled as she worried.

"Oh Merida," the woman said finally noticing the two girls, "come help me tune these would you? Anna, dear, do try to keep your fingers out of your mouth."

"Huh?" Anna wasn't even aware she'd been chewing on her knuckle, a habit she'd developed in response to her other habit of laughing at inappropriate times. Merida brushed by her looking bored already. Elinor instructed her to pluck the strings while she adjusted the tuner.

"Anna, you'll go after Merida. Just watch and learn for now," Elinor said in a firm mother's tone.

"Actually , I need to do something at home. Need to...talk to Mom and Dad..." Merida shook her head and sighed.

"Wooohoo!" came a voice from behind them, "I don't blame ye lass. Go on home before my darling wife drags you into one of her ladylike ideas," the man whooped a laugh.

"Fergus!" Elinor scolded, "your daughter tromps around like a boy and you-"

"Aye lass, you're doin' a wonder." Fergus winked at his daughter over his wife's shoulder. Elinor pretended not to see it and took up tuning the harp again.

"Uh, so I'll call you later Merida," Anna said, "thank you for having me over Mr. and Mrs. Dunbroch."

"See you later," Merida replied, a groan in her voice.

"Do come back soon. Merida does need to have a friend around who knows how to put her hair up."

"Mooom!" Anna shoved her knuckle between her teeth again as she made her way out the front door.


End file.
